Harry Potter Reads Harry Potter
by unending
Summary: Harry lived through the war but hes still stuck in the past. With to many secrets to hide Harry hasn't talked to Ron or Hermione in months, the only person he can stand is Ginny but he doesn't have much choice when he's thrown together with his ex-bestfriends and a few other guests. P.S. i will be changing the story line of the books so don't worry about copywriter issues!
1. Chapter 1: The Dark Lord Ascending

Harry had kept to the Room of Requirement in the weeks following the Battle of Hogwarts, he could not bear the praise he got from everybody. Harry remembered the first time he had set foot in Hogwarts; he had been famous for a deed he did not remember and truly had nothing to do with, it was his mother, all his mother. Now, it was like the sorting hat had been placed on his head for the first time and everybody was whispering about him, wondering what he would do and their eyes were filled with awe. Harry did not want it, again he was being treated like a god and a savior when all he had done was to simply not fight. It was his mother's spell that had saved him ounce again and it was not him, he was not more powerful than Voldemort, he had only been protected by somebody else's sacrifice.

Harry had not told Ron or Hermione what had happened. He supposed that, just like everybody else, they had put two and two together and came up with an incorrect story; he had walked into the forest, unarmed, and prepared to die and instead he had miraculously survived the killing curse, once again, and saved them all. That was not how it happened but he would not tell Ron or Hermione that because he could not look into their eyes, least of all Ron's. The fact the Ron could so easily forgive him only made it hurt that much worse, because Harry knew it was his fault, all his fault.

He did not know why he had come to Dumbledore's office but he had and Ginny, who he had spent most of his time with sense the battle, had thought it was a good idea. Now, standing outside the door, Harry could have sworn he heard hushed voices but as he opened the door the room was empty, even the picture frames were blank.

Dumbledore's desk looked virtually unchanged, he supposed Snape hadn't had the heart to redecorate. Harry could see in his mind's eye Dumbledore, looking over his half-moon glasses at him and saying; "Is there something you need my boy?" but as Harry looked back, it was only an empty high backed chair, tucked underneath a desk filled with a miss match of strange silver objects.

Harry scanned the room; he saw Fox's perch, looking sad and empty, a pile of ash in the bottom tray, a singular, fiery feather rested amongst them. Harry turned, scanned the room and froze. A feather? He had searched this room for clues three times sense the death of Severus Snape, even rifling through the ashes that he was now staring at but not ounce had he seen this feather.

Approaching cautiously, Harry reached out a hand and grasped the quilled end of the feather and waited, nothing happened for a split second and then the world burst into flames. Harry yelled and tried to drop the feather but his fingers were super glued to the tip, almost like it was a portkey and then, just as suddenly as it had started, it stopped.

Harry blinked, the sun that was filling the space was coming from thin air because there were no windows and the walls were a soft green. Harry knew this place; it was the place that he and Ginny spent almost all their time in, it was the Room of Requirement.

Harry looked around and his jaw dropped, this may have been his and Ginny's room but it was not Ginny who was sitting in front of him now, it was Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, James Potter and Lilly Evans.

Harry could only think of one thing to say; "I'm dead." it was not a question, only a statement and he was surprised to feel that he did not really care except for a nagging voice in the back of his head that said "what about Ginny?"

Before any of the other could reply a load pop and twirl of flames magicked itself into existence and a stunned and disheveled Ron and Hermione came into view.

"H-how?" stuttered Hermione, who was standing rather close to Ron

"Hermione and I were just..." Ron trailed off and they both blushed and took a step back from each other. Hermione pulled the shoulder of her shirt up and it occurred to Harry that they had been snogging but he could not find it in himself to care or even feel happy for them.

"Well, it doesn't matter what we were doing but we were swallowed up by flames and ended up here." finished a red faced Hermione.

Both Ron and Hermione had their backs to the Marauders and Lilly and so they had not seen them yet. Harry pointed and said in the detached voice he had adopted shortly after the Battle of Hogwarts "Were dead."

"Oh, honestly Harry! We ar-" she abruptly stopped as she caught sight of the four, who had been listening in shock and silence throughout the exchange.

"Bloody hell..." whispered Ron. "W-were d-dead?"

The four who were sitting on the floor, who did not grasp the bizarreness of the situation, exchanged confused looks. "What do you mean you're dead?" asked Sirius, who of course had to be the first to speak. At that moment a piece of charred and smoking paper fell into Harry's outstretched palm and he immediately began to read, hoping for an explanation.

_Dear Mr. James Potter, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, Lilly Evans, Ronald Weasley, Hermione Granger and Harry Potter,_

_ I have sent you three back from 2007 to the year 1968 to change the future, for reasons I am sure you can guess. Harry, if I had time I would have consulted you but unfortunately I did not, please understand that this was truly the last hope to alter some of my own mistakes and possibly secure yourself a happier childhood._

_ I have sent back seven books, beginning in Harry's first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and ending only three weeks ago, in Harry's time; unfortunately the most efficient way of doing so was to craft these books from Harry's point of view._

_ You will be reading the last book first, so as to gleam as much information as fast as possible, for I fear that an outside force may want to waylay your endeavors._

_ Everything in these books is true and I am sure, have you not been interrupted, that at the end of the seventh book the occupants of this room will want to read the other six._

_ Time in both dimensions will be stopped while you are in this room and as you all know the Room of Requirements unique abilities, there will be no need to leave. I warn you, should you try to escape you will be unable to open the door and, should you try to speak of what has surpassed in this room without the agreement from Harry, and only Harry, you will find yourself, literally, speechless._

_ Harry, Hermione and Ron- please do not reveal anything that happens in the future and only what has happened in the past. This is important because, although difficult in some ways, to much information might make the others in this room feel overwhelmed or untrustworthy._

_ For those of you who have experienced it, time travel is dangerous. The cloth of time has been placed in your hands and it is your job to re-spin what has already been sewn without creating too many knots. Where one life is spared, two may be taken in its stead._

_ Harry- I still have no doubt that you are the-"_

Harry stopped abruptly, this was not for anyone else to read and he made to put the parchment back in his pocket but Sirius was too fast, he lunged for the paper and caught it, dodging Harry's attempt at retrieval. Sirius began to read;

_Harry- I still have no doubt that you are the greater man but by sending you back in time I am granting you what you saw in the Mirror of Erised. This is not the first time you have been faced with your greatest desire and all four times you have resisted what now seems to be the inevitable. But we must agree that this time is very different than any previous encounters, there for I will remind you of an old warning; 'it does not do well to dwell on dreams and forget to live'. I do not know when the end will come about but I will leave you with these last words for the second time 'of course it's happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth would that mean it's not real?'._

_Ever Awaiting,_

_The Keeper of Kings Cross_

"What does that even mean?" asked James. Harry stared at him, they really did look alike and he was surprised to say that the only difference was his eyes, as he was so often told, he had his mother's eyes.

"What book?" Sirius said, who was looking at Harry with suspicion.

"The questions," Remus said "should be directed at this," he glanced at the letter in Sirius's hand "Harry Potter." All four of them looked at Harry and Ron, deciding upon the two but Ron pointed to Harry.

"What is this all about?" Lilly asked.

"I think," Remus said, before Harry could come up with an answer that would come even close to covering her question. "That we should start with what was given to us." he indicated the letter.

Sirius, still looking wary, looked down at the letter and huffed. "'Last hope for your happiness' my arse, come visit Grimauld place and I'll show you unhappiness."

Harry, forgetting for a moment that he was not supposed to know Sirius, said "There are worse things than even your mother, Sirius."

"I do- how did you know about my mother?" Sirius demanded, now looking even more cautious.

Thinking fast Harry replied; "We met ounce in the future and you were mumbling something about your mother."

"Hmph." Sirius grumbled, but he could not seem to find fault in that.

"Who's traveled back in time?" Lilly asked, a hint of jealousy in her voice.

Ron looked annoyed and pointed at Harry and Hermione. He had always been cross about being left behind on that adventure but he had been unconscious and there had been no time to revive him.

"Why did you go back in time?" Remus asked, he to sounded a touch envious

"To save my godfather from the Dementors Kiss." Harry said, speaking for the first time sense the letter.

"The Kiss!?" exclaimed Sirius "Why in hell would your godfather get the Kiss?"

"He was convicted of murder." Harry explained dully

"And you helped him anyways?" asked Lilly, appalled.

"He was framed." said Harry

"Then who did it?" asked James

The look that that passed over Harry's face was fleeting but was enough to make the conversation drop "I think it would be better if we read that in the book."

"Ok, well," James trailed off as he scanned the letter "What's the Mirror of Erised?"

That was personal and not of much importance but Ron jumped in "The Mirror of Erised shows your deepest desire."

"That doesn't sound too bad, why would he ask you not to go searching for it again?" asked Sirius, Harry now saw what Remus had meant when he'd mentioned the arrogance of his young godfather. Remus and Lilly simply rolled their eyes.

"The part about facing your greatest desire and walking away from it is connected to the Mirror." Remus said to himself.

"The only question left is who wrote this letter?" concluded Lilly.

Harry had been hoping that this question would not come up but it seemed that his wishes would not be appeased. "I don't know, it must have been someone I didn't know very well." Harry lied

"Bullshit, why would they go through the trouble of all this if they barely knew you?" asked Sirius but a look from both Lilly and Remus caused him to, thankfully, shut up.

"That's the whole letter." said James "But where's the book?" At that moment a black book landed heavily on Harry's lap. Harry flipped it over and groaned as he read the golden tittle. Ron looked over and turned pale, so did Hermione. "Harry P-potter and the D-d-Deathly H-hallows." Hermione said.

"Iv heard of those." James said excitedly but the trio only looked at him sadly.

"Well I've never heard of them!" said Lilly

"I have." Said Sirius

"How come both of you know what they are but neither of us do?"

"My father taught me about them."

"I was in my mother's library and got bored with one of the muggle books I stashed in there."

"You read!?" asked Lilly incredulously

"You try being home for an entire summer with my family."

"Well," said Remus, doing his best to direct attention from an obviously testy Sirius "What exactly are they?"

"There pieces of your soul trapped in an inanimate object." Explained Hermione. Harry scoffed, they were hardly all inanimate.

Ron gave Harry a sidelong look before asking Hermione "What's inanimate?"

"Honestly Ron, it means something that isn't alive, like your shirt or wand." Both Hermione and Lilly rolled there eyes.

"Who should read first?" asked Remus.

"I'll read first." said Sirius, whom was now getting amused glances from all the occupants in the room "What?" he, said, indignantly.

"Reading?" asked James

"I told you I read!" argued Sirius but was only met by a room full of raised eyebrows.

"I'll believe it when I see it." Said James

Sirius was about to open his mouth with a retort but Lilly cut him off.

"Just start already." said Lilly and so he did.

**Chapter 1**

**The Dark Lord Ascending**

There were grimaces from everybody except Harry in the room.

**The two men appeared out of the shadows, a few feet apart in the narrow, starlit lane. For a moment they stood quietly, wands pointed at one another's hearts; then, both, recognizing the other they pocketed their respective wands and both walked briskly in the same direction.**

"**Any news?" asked the taller of the two.**

"**Only the best," replied Severus Snape.**

Both Ron and Hermione gave the book death glares. "What is old Snivelus doing?" asked Sirius.

"Bloody bastard." said Ron, who looked to Harry for agreement but to his surprise, got none. Harry had never told either Ron or Hermione about Snape's memories.

**The cobbled lane was bordered on their left by a jumble of unkept brambles, on the right by a tall, immaculate hedge. Both men's long, black cloaks snapped at their ankles as they stiffly marched forward.**

"**I thought I might be late," said Yaxley, his square nose and chin flashing in and out of sight as the limbs of overhanging trees blotted out the moonlight.**

"**Trickier than I though but I hope he will be satisfied. I assume you are confident of your reception?" Snape gave one stiff nod before they turned sharply into a wide driveway that opened off the narrow lane. The manicured hedge curved with them, the end dissolving into the distance, an imposing wrought-iron gate met the hedge at a cross section that barred the men's way. Neither of them faltered: raising their arm across their chest in a make shift salute, both men passed through the dark metal as if it were made of smoke. An outsider would have thought it odd that even though there was still many yards from the inside of the gate to the medieval front doors, neither man could be seen, it was as if they had both vanished from the manor grounds without a trace.**

"The Dark Mark." Harry growled, hate dripped from his words.

"How do you know about the Dark Mark. I only know because of my mother." said Sirius bitterly.

"We have all had run-ins with Death Eaters on a number of occasions." said Harry

"When? You all seem like you're all still pretty young, probably not even out of Hogwarts yet, you shouldn't have any dealings with Death Eaters at your age." Lilly wasn't trying to be demeaning, she was only stating facts but something about her tone bothered Harry, he wasn't sure what.

Ron snorted. "Ya. Being the Cho-," he paused but covered it up quickly "friends with Harry gets you into worse situations than scarps with Death Eaters."

The Marauders and Lilly all raised their eyebrows "Worse than Death Eaters?" asked James "What, besides Voldemort, is worse than a Death Eater."

"There are many things that are worse than Death Eaters and Voldemort." said Remus

"Like what?" asked Sirius

"Let's just read." said Remus and Sirius, reluctantly, went back to the book.

**The holly hedges suppressed the sharp sounds of their shoes against the granite walk. To the left of the Yaxely there was crack of branches; he drew his wand for the second time that night, aiming the point over Snape's head. Snape smirked unkindly as an oversized albino peacock strut a top the hedge. "Careful Yaxely or Lucius will have your head for killing one of his precious peacocks."**

"Malfoy Manor." said Sirius

Hermione flinched and rubbed the place were Harry knew the scars 'mudblood' were etched into her skin. "Yes, Malfoy Manor." She said.

"Hang on, how come you know what Malfoy Manor looks like Sirius?" asked James.

"Mother makes us go and visit during the summer, terrible place. But how come you know what it looks like?" said Sirius

"It's in the book." said Ron, placing a protective arm around Hermione. Harry suddenly felt a pang longing for Ginny but he repressed it, knowing he wouldn't be seeing her for a while.

"**Peacocks," Yaxely huffed, stowing his wand beneath his robes, giving Snape a sidelong glance "I doubt he'll miss one. Peacocks…" he grumbled as they continued forward. An imposing manor house materialized out of the fog at the end of the circular drive, the flickering light of lanterns cast shadows through the diamond-paned windows. Somewhere in the neat garden a fountain poured a steady stream of recycled water. The walk of the two men was no longer a stiff gate but a hurried jumble of feet on gravel. The fortress like doors opened against their failed attempt at a dignified jog, although no one had appeared to open them.**

** Everything was the same in the Malfoy house; large, dimly light, and over decorated, there was very little in the house that wasn't black, silver or green. The hallway that Snape and Yaxely now aggressively walked through was carpeted to no expense, little of the original stone floor was seen, and though the portraits were still the eyes of the smirking faces followed the hurrying men.**

"Creepy." Muttered James

"It is." Said Sirius, glaring at the books description.

**Snape was the first to reach the heavily oiled wooden door, Yaxely stopped beside him, both regaining their breath. For a moment they both stood there, a test of who would open the door first. Finally it was Snape who closed his pale fingers around the steely nob.**

** The door lazily opened on well-oiled hinges to a spacious drawing room. An ornate black table had been placed in the middle of the room, men and women alike were seated around the table and yet there was only one who touched the table, the rest preferring to sit, straight backed, against the tall chairs. His hands splayed like pale spiders against the blackness of the reflective wood, his red eyes flicked to the opening door. **

** The only lighting in the room came from a fireplace directly behind Voldemort. Both Snape and Yaxely paused at the thresh hold, allowing their eyes to become accustomed to the dim lighting.**

** Neither Yaxely nor Snape seemed surprised to see an assumingly unconscious woman hanging upside down above the table, spinning slowly as if suspended by rope. **

"That's terrible." said Lilly and Hermione nodded.

**Every moment or so Snape glanced upwards; seemingly unable to keep himself from the involuntary motion.**

** "Snape," addressed a quiet voice, although the sound was easily heard across the room "Yaxely," this time the voice sounded noticeably less pleased "You are very nearly late."**

"We wouldn't want you to be 'very nearly late', now would we." asked Sirius in a mocking tone.

"I doubt being late for Voldemort is the safest thing to do, Sirius" Said Remus.

**His hands had not moved from their splayed position atop the table, faint sprays of condensation had grown as the heat of his hands reacted with the cold of the dark wood. For a moment all that the new arrivals could see was his dark robes and arachnid fingers but as they drew nearer his face shown through the shadows cast by his high backed chair; snakelike, hairless, the slits that served for a nose quivered with every breath. In the darkness his red, reptilian eyes stood out starkly against the deathly pale skin.**

"What is that?" asked Remus, who knew that whatever it was could not be fully human.

"That," said Harry in a cold voice. "Is Voldemort in our day."

"Why does he look so different?" asked James, who had seen him in a memory his dad had shared with him.

"He is so deep in dark magic that he has lost his humanity." explained Harry.

"**Severus," said Voldemort, indicating the seat on his immediate right.**

"He's his right hand man!?" exclaimed James.

"Of course he is." growled Ron

"Bloody git!" Sirius said.

"Unfortunately I have to agree." added Remus.

"No you don't." said Harry. Ron and Hermione looked at him as is he had gone crazy, Sirius and James were not far behind.

"What are you talking about mate? He ki-" Ron stopped himself from revealing more but he still looked at Harry incredulously.

"**Yaxley," Voldemort did not bother to look at him "beside Dolohov."**

**The two men took their assigned places. There wasn't many eyes that did not follow Snape around the table and it was to him that Voldemort spoke first**

"**So?"**

"**My Lord, the plan is set, the Order of the Phoenix intends to move Potter from his current place on Saturday next, at nightfall."**

"That explains so much!" snapped Ron "that slimy git lost Fr-" again Ron cut himself off but Harry knew what he would have said.

"Don't be so quick to judge." Harry said.

Before Ron could say anything back Sirius cut in. "He gave you away and you're defending him?" he looked incredulous

"You don't know the whole story." responded Harry defensively.

"Well we would if you'd bothered to tell us." muttered Ron, Harry ignored him.

**The occupants surrounding the table all noticeably became more alert; some fidgeted, others stiffened, all eyes were now on Snape and Voldemort.**

** "Saturday… at night fall," repeated Voldemort slowly. Snape did not flinch as Voldemort gave him the full extent of his red-eyed gaze, the look was so intense that some of the watchers looked away, apparently afraid that they themselves would be pierced by the searching gaze. After a moment or two Voldemort gave a slight nod of approval and his lipless mouth curved into resembling a smile, the result made his snake-like features even more grotesque.**

** "Well done Severus, this information comes-"**

** "-from the source we discussed, My Lord." Said Snape**

** Voldemort's eyes snapped to Yaxely as a reverent "My Lord." Escaped his lips. Yaxely's features were thrown into the low light of the crackling fire as he eagerly leaned forward to make better contact, yet he still did not dare look him in the eye.**

** "I have heard otherwise, My Lord." His eagerness to prove Snape was rather poorly veiled. Yaxely's eyes flickered from the faces that were now turned raptly to him and Voldemort's silent lips. **

** Yaxely was not deterred by Voldemorts steally look but he did shrink slightly back into his high backed chair as he forged on. "The Auror, Dawlish, was a little careless with his drink and let it slip that Potter will not be moved until the thirteenth, as you undoubtedly know, that is the night before his seventeenth birthday. I suspect that he is trying to use the protection of the charm as long as possible."**

"What charm? I didn't think a simple charm could stop Voldemort." Said Lilly, her brow was creased with thought.

"It's not a simple charm but it did disappear when I turned seventeen." Said Harry. It was strange to hear his own mother, who had sacrificed her life to inadvertently create the very spell she was discussing so nonchalantly, now.

Lilly didn't reply but Harry could see her mentally going through all the charms she knew.

**Snape mouth had twisted into a sick smile.**

"Never a good sine." said Sirius.

James grimaced, remembering the few times that Snape had ever made that same face when they had crossed paths, it seemed those were the only times that old Snivelus had ever gotten one up on the Marauders "Remember third year?" asked James

"Last time I try and get between you and Snape." Said Remus

Lilly looked accusatorily at James "What did you do?"

"Me?!" he looked stunned "I wasn't the one who started it this time!"

Lilly looked unconvinced "You always do."

"I'm going to have to agree but in this case James is telling the truth, Snape was the instigator." Said Remus, doing his best to defend his friend even though there was rarely a time when he deserved it.

"Humph." Lilly only glared, she believed Remus but that didn't change the fact that more then not it James or Sirius who started the continuous quarrels between them.

"**I was told by my source that their plans are to leak a false trail; this is no doubt it. I wouldn't doubt a Confundus Charm. Remember last time? I would think it's safe to say he is more than susceptible.**

"**My Lord," pleaded Yaxely "I assure you that Dawlish seemed quiet certain."**

**Snape only scoffed "Yaxely, would you not assume that if Dawlish was placed under a Confundus Charm that he would be quiet sure, would he not?"**

"**I assure you, Yaxely," Snape said, mocking his words from a moment before "the protection of Harry Potter will not involve the Auror Office. The Order believes, correctly, that we have managed to infiltrate the Ministry."**

"They infiltrated the Ministry?" exclaimed Lilly

"Not hard to do with fudge as minister only the year before, blind idiot wouldn't have admitted that Voldemort was al-" Ron clamped his mouth shut and lamely covered up his slip with a rather forced laughed.

The Marauders and Lilly gave him a curious look but other wise ignored it.

"**The Order's finally got one thing right, then, eh?" said a squat man sitting a few seats down to the, now, scowling Yaxely. The man gave a short, wet laugh that was echoed around the table.**

** Voldemort did not laugh. His gaze had inadvertently wandered skyward, observing the revolving body, his slitted eyes were unfocused; lost in thought.**

** Yaxely had gathered his courage "Please My Lord, Dawlish said that an entire party of Aurors will be used to transfer the boy from his-" Voldemort did not take his gaze away from the hovering figure as he held an iridescent hand, it was the only gesture that was needed to silence Yaxely's persistence.**

** Jealousy was tangible as he turned back to Snape. "Where do they intend to hide the boy next?"**

** A small smirk of victory pulled at Snape's lips "I was told that the location was undecided but that it would be a home of an Order member. According to my source the safe house has been given every protection accessible. I do not think that it is," Snape searched for the right word "convenient to reach him once he has reached his destination, unless, by chance, the Ministry has fallen by next Saturday. **

** "Yaxely,"called Voldemort, said man hurriedly leaned forward in anticipation "Will the Ministry have fallen by Saturday of next?"**

** His eyes flickered from the table top to Voldemort's chin "I have managed to place an Imperius curse on Pius Thickness without detection." He sounded proud.**

"Who's that?" asked Remus

"It explains in the book." responded Hermione.

** "Those seated around Yaxely gave him appraising looks, Dolohov, a greasy man with a long, twisted face, gave him a congratulatory pat on the back.**

** Yaxely's face fell as Voldemort began to talk "It is a start, though a small one. Thicknesse is only one man, Scrimgeor must be completely surrounded by my men before we can act. One failed attempt on the Ministers life and there won't be another chance for a long while."**

** "You are right My Lord, but I believe that now that we have the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement under our control it will be easier to attain the cooperation of other, equally high ranking, officals soon enough. As Department Head Thicknesse has regular contact with all of the Zother Ministry Departments, as well as the Minister himself."**

** "Never the less it does not change that the Ministry will not be solely under my control by Saturday of next, this leaves us the option of taking down the boys operation before he can reach his appointed destination of safety."**

** Yaxely, in an attempt to receive some glimmer of approval plowed on "We have an advantage there. We have been able to put more government officials under our jurisdiction, some of which work within the Department of Magical Transport. If Potter attempts to use Apparation or the Floo Network, we will be notified."**

** "The Order is not stupid enough to do either." Said Snape, smirking at a more than disgruntled Yaxely "as we have already established; the Order of the Phoenix is convinced we have infiltrated the Ministry, and they are not wrong, therefore they would not risk any form of transportation that is related to the ministry, or would activate the decree of Underage Wizardry."**

** Voldemort watched Yaxely as he finally relented under the belittling gaze of Severus Snape "This is not a setback, it will be easier by far to take Potter out in the open." Said Voldemort coolly, addressing the table as a whole.**

"Damn." said Sirius, who was finding himself more and more inclined to like Harry now that he learned just how much Voldemort hated him.

"You have more of a knack for getting yourself into trouble than James over here." Said Remus, who never thought that he would ever find the day that someone could usurp his best friends throne when it regarded unluckiness.

"Hey! I am not unlucky!" protested James, nobody replied.

**"This time it will be I who attends to the boy. I do not blame you for all the mistakes involving Potter, some have been my own, never the less, the only reason Potter is still alive is due more to my failures then his triumphs."**

"True." said Harry

"Not true Harry." said Hermione but Harry simply rolled his eyes.

"How many times have you faced Voldemort?" asked Lilly

"A lot." said Ron

"And your still alive?" asked Sirius, his family was closer than most with Voldemort and he had seen firsthand what he could do, the fact that this 18 year old boy had escaped Voldemort more than once was shocking. "Incredible." I said, aware that my voice sounded awed.

Harry grimaced "Hardly."

I raised my eyebrows but didn't ask anything else, partly because I didn't know how to breach the subject and partly because I assumed he would only deflect the question.

** Voldemort addressed the unconscious body "carelessness has been a deciding failure, he has flirted with luck and chance and so far has thwarted all but the most detailed plans. Unfortunately for him I know better now, understand many things I could not comprehend before; It must be I who kill Harry Potter."**

"Hasn't he always tried to do it himself?" asked Ron

"Almost always, yes." said Harry

"And his Death Eaters just buy it?" asked James

"What choice do they have?" asked Harry "Either they grovel or they are killed. The one good thing about Voldemort is that he believes death is the worst punishment, he would only torture someone for so long before he gets bored."

There wasn't one person in the room who didn't look at him with disbelief. Worst was Ron and Hermione, there jaws hanging slightly agape, this Harry was new to them.

"And how would you know that?" asked Sirius suspiciously, he was still wary, if this book was written in the view of Harry Potter then why were they reading about something involving Voldemort. Anyone who knew Voldemort's tendencies was not someone Sirius wanted to be affiliated with.

"I have been privy to many of Ri- Voldemort's mood swings or rages, whatever you want to call him. After a while one starts to see a pattern." Said Harry, both Lilly and Remus caught on to what Harry had detoured from saying. It had sounded as if he was going to Voldemort by another name.

Sirius only glared suspiciously at Harry who stayed impassive although the distrust did prick him uncomfortably.

** Dolohov, the man who had congratulated Yaxely only minutes before, was cut off as a wail issued from below their feet, seemingly coming from directly beneath the table.**

Sirius froze. "Not possible." he whispered, his eyes flickering over the page as he re-read the sentence. "There's no way." he said ounce again.

Harry, Ron and Hermione exchanged looks, guessing what had brought such a reaction to the surface.

"What?" asked James but Sirius was still re-reading the sentence over and over again until finally Remus simply took the book out of his hands. Remus' eyes widened, he re-read the sentence then passed the book to James, pointing to the paragraph.

James looked stricken. He passed the book back to Sirius and said "Read." Lilly looked confused as Sirius took a breath and began again.

"**Wormtail," said Voldemort,**

Understanding, Lilly put a hand on James' arm. He was startled but he soon relaxed into it, enjoying he soft touch.

Harry smiled; glad to see that his parents were getting along.

**His monotones voice did not falter "I do not believe this would be the first time I have spoken to you about keeping out prisoner quiet."**

** "Yes, M-My Lord. Sorry M-My Lord." Sniveled a shrew like man a quarter of the way down the table. The dwarfish man was no taller than a boy and, on first glance, the chair he had been occupying looked vacant. At his master uncaring command, the man was sent scuttling to appease his biding. As he hurriedly left the room, his chest level with the high doorknob, all that was left of him was a unplaced glint of silver.**

"What is it?" asked Remus

"Probably nothing." Said James

"If it was nothing then they wouldn't have mentioned it." Lilly argued.

"They know," said Sirius "if you want to know so bad ask them." He pointed to Harry, who, by now, was the one they looked to when they needed answers.

"His hand." Said Harry at last.

"His hand?" asked James, bewildered.

"How is that his hand? The rat doesn't have a silver hand now." Said Sirius, disgust and a tinge of hurt were evident in his voice.

"Fourth year, a school…" Harry didn't want to give away too much "assignment went wrong. One of the teachers was disguised and he guided me towards Voldemort, in order to…" again Harry searched for the right words "summon him Wormtail hand to give up his hand."

"That's disgusting." Said Lilly, repulsed at the very idea

"Rat." Said Remus savagely. Lilly was still unused to Remus' new found behavior, but in this case she assumed it was perfectly excusable.

** "As I was attempting to say before our little interruption; I am more equipped to handle the situation. For instance I will need someone else's wand to carry out the coming mission." Voldemort's eyes were now on the surrounding people, surveying their reactions. **

"Why would he need to do that?" asked Remus

"Doesn't he have his own wand?" asked Lilly

"Maybe he broke it." Offered Sirius

"He does have a wand," said Harry "But when it comes to me his doesn't work to its… full extent."

"What do you mean it 'doesn't work to its full extent'?" asked Remus, who had never heard of wands not working against another person.

"Yes Harry," Ron looked pointedly at Harry "Care to explain what in the bloody hell you talking about?" Harry could see the hurt in both Hermione and Ron's eyes. Neither of them knew that Harry's secret keeping had extended back so far, they had always told each other everything, or at least that's what they thought.

"I can't say." Said Harry, avoiding his friends glares

"Why the hell not!?" snapped Ron

"Ron…" Hermione tried to console

"No Hermione, this git hasn't been making any sense! I thought it was just because of the battle-"

"Ron! Shush, they cant know!" warned Hermione, but Ron plowed on.

"but I guess you haven't bothered to tell us everything in awhile! Don't you think that little piece on information would have been useful!?" his rant ended when the breath in his lungs ran out.

By then Harry was equally heated "You know what's funny!? I tried to mention it! Do you remember that Ron?! I told you how my wand connected to his without me aiming it! I told you that something weird happened and you know what you said!? You and Hermione both agreed that it was the stress of the moment, that it was accidental magic, that there was no way my wand could move of it own accord! DO YOU REMEMBER THAT?! Or are you to busy wondering why I didn't share every little piece of my life with you!?"

"Harry," Hermione said as if she was talking to a child "it just isn't possible. In all the books I've ever read I have never once found anything about wands acting by themselves!"

"And you!" Harry turned on Hermione who cowered under his gaze "In your precious books did you ever read anything about half the things we've been through, that I've been through!? Before me had anyone heard of someone surviving-" he glanced at the other occupants in the room who were looking startled and awkward, for the sake of the book we wouldn't reveal too much "-what I survived at age one!? NO! Because it was unheard of!" Harry was out of breath and Hermione wad shrunk against Ron's side, there were tears in her eyes but she still stood with her original belief.

"Harry… I just don't-" he didn't give her a chance to finish before he turned is back on her with a disgusted scoff.

The Marauders and Lilly fidgeted. Finally after a long silence they began to read again.

** Fear and shock rippled among the crowd, the reaction was equal to a request to borrow an arm or maybe the left side of their brain. Voldemort did not look surprised "I see there are no takers," he surveyed the room, his eyes landing on a rather decrepit looking figure slouched against the black wood. "Ahhh, Lucius." The figure gave a jerk of surprise, his eyes snapping the Voldemort's sneering face. "You have no use for yours and I require one."**

"I almost feel sorry for him." said Sirius.

** The unveiled look of fear drew the skin around his eyes together, giving his already gray complexion a sickly feel. In the flickering hearth light his eyes were sunken in shadows.**

"God, what happened to him?" asked James

"He fell out of favor." said Harry bluntly

"**My Lord?" his voice was hoarse, cracking like the logs in the fire.**

** "Lucius, your wand." There was an edge to Voldemort's voice that wasn't there before.**

** Lucius gave a sidelong glance to his wife, as if asking for confirmation. She was sitting to his left, staring directly ahead of her, equally as ashen faced as he was, her lustrous blond hair now in draping in oily ropes down her back. She gave no indication that she had heard him besides to briefly press her nails into his wrist beneath the table.**

** It was as if he touch was a trigger, Malfoy reached inside his robes and shakily passed his rather gaudy wand to Voldemort, who held it at nose level and examined the shaft with a practiced eye.**

** "And the properties?" demanded Voldemort.**

** "Elm," Lucius gulped "and Dragon- Dragon heartstring."**

** "A worthy wand, too good for you Lucius." Voldemort gave him a fleeting look of contempt.**

** From the sleeve of his black robe he pulled his own wand, holding them parallel to each other. Lucius made an involuntary movement, barely a twitch, but Voldemort noticed.**

** Voldemort laughed, it was humorless and cold "Give you my wand, Lucius. I did not think even you would be that naive."**

"Thats not good." said Sirius.

**A ripple moved through the table as the gathered let out a nasty wave of laughter. "I have found that you seem less than happy of late Lucius. I have given you your liberty, which is more than you deserve, but maybe you are still unhappy. What about my presence in your home displeases you, Lucius?"**

"**Nothing— nothing, my Lord!"**

"**You should know my now Lucius that I am quit apt at deciphering truth from lie . . ." the hiss of malice in Voldemort's voice did not stop even after the cruel mouth was shut.**

** Something heavy could be heard slithering beneath the table, the Death Eaters scooted their chairs back from whatever had found its way into the room.**

"Nagini." Harry said with such hate that even Ron and Hermione were surprised.

"Who?" asked Remus

"It says." answered Sirius.

**The massive snake wound its way languidly up the back of Voldemort's chair. The berth of the snake was so large that the end of the seemingly endless length could not be seen. The snakes neck was the thickness of a full grown man's thigh, the eyes of the beast were equally as red and slitted as its masters.**

"Disgusting." said Lilly and many others in the room nodded.

"I hate snakes." Said Harry bitterly, looking down at his arms as if talking to him.

"Last I heard Nevil agrees with you." Said Ron, forgetting for a moment that Harry and him were not on the best of speaking terms.

"Who's Nevil?" asked Lilly

"Nevil Longbottum." Said Hermione "He's our friend."

"Frank!?" asked Lilly, who was friends with him

"Yes, and Alice." Said Hermion, although with a touch of sadness

"Oh, that great! Alice has liked Frank for so long!" Said Lilly, Alice was her best friend.

"Well Frank has liked Alice as well." Said Sirius

"He does?"

"Yup, hasn't shut up about it sense first year." Grumbled James

** The great snake leaned into Voldemort's stroking fingertips. "If I remember correctly it was the Malfoy's who wanted so desperately to rise to power just years ago."**

** Narcissa did not answer but Lucius quaked under Voldemort's displeased gaze "My Lord, there is no greater honor then to have my family and house graced with your presence. My only regret is not being fulfil the duty's you asked of me." To his left his wife gave a stiff nod and to his right Draco, his son, glanced quickly at the snake and back down to the table, unable to make eye contact.**

** "It is of the highest honor to have you here, My Lord. Our family has never been so blessed." The woman's voice was choked with emotion, her body involuntarily leaning forwards as if she had an unquenchable need for proximity to her Lord. She sat next to her sister, unlike in looks, Bellatrix Lestrange was dark; her black curls spun so tightly together that the heaviness of unwashed grease was masked in their frizz.**

"Bellatrix." said Sirius with dislike but Harry outdid his godfather at the moment. His words dripped more hate and contempt then they ever had "Yes, Bellatrix."

"How do you know Bellatrix." asked Sirius, his curiosity was building.

"She helped me with my Unforgivable Curse's." said Harry, the irony was obvious in his voice.

"What do you mean she 'helped you'?" asked Lilly, warily.

"Oh," said Harry, he radiated dark humor "She told me that in order for an unforgivable curse to work properly that I had to mean it." The look in his eyes was unnerving.

"Why on earth were your discussing Unforgivable Curses with Bellatrix Lestrange!?" Lilly sounded flabbergasted at the very thought, they were in the same year and Lilly had never met a more conniving person in her life, she was pure evil.

"It wasn't by choice. She had it coming when I tried to perform one on her."

"You tried to do what?" snapped Hermione.

"After what happened by the veil you saw me ran after her. I caught her and tried to perform 'Crucio' but it didn't work." Harry decided he would explain, there was no point in avoiding it.

"You never told us." Said Ron

"What was I supposed to say, Ron, hello, I just ran after Bellatrix after she-" Harry glanced at Sirius "Well, after she did what she did, and I tried to torture her but it didn't work." I didn't really think that I could say that after what happened."

"Yes you could have." Snapped Ron

"We would have understood, Harry." Consoled Hermione

"You wouldn't have, both of you didn't understand when I used the Imperius Curse at Gringots. I had just lost the only family I had left." Neither of them had anything to say, he was right, they wouldn't have understood.

"So you use unforgivable curses?" asked Sirius

"Sirius!" exclaimed Lilly

"What!? I think it's a fair question considering we have to be in the same room as them!" defended Sirius

"I know it's not a good answer but it will be explained in the book." Said Hermione, who was casting furtive looks at Harry

"Humph, why can't you just give us a straight answer?" asked James

"Because it could mess with time." Explained Hermione

"Fine." Snapped Sirius, who continued to glare.

"**Highest honor," repeated Voldemort, mulling over the words. His head was tilted slightly to the side, as if a child staring at a particularly wide selection of lollipops.**

"I doubt Voldemort want's to be described as a child observing lollipops." Said Sirius with a small giggle.

**"From you, Bellatrix, this means a great deal, a great deal indeed." Voldemort watched her with cold eyes.**

** Bellatrix's pale face flooded with color "My Lord, thank you! What I say is true."**

** "A great deal… even compared to the happy event that has recently occurred in your family?" Bellatrix only starred at Voldemort, her brows furrowed.**

** "My Lord?" she questioned.**

** "I have heard that your neice has just married Remus Lupin."**

"What?!" exclaimed Remus

"You marry Tonks?" asked Sirius

"But she's like, six." said James

"I get married?" asked Remus "But what about my-" he stopped, glancing at Ron, Hermione, Harry and Lilly.

"We already know." said Harry, who had guessed. Ron and Hermione nodded.

"You do?" he was surprised

"Ya, you were our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher in the third year." Explained Ron "and you kinda-" he glanced at Lilly anf coughed awkwardly

"I didn't," Remus to looked at Lilly with apprehension "Hurt anyone did i?"

Harry glanced at Sirius but quickly looked away "Don't worry, it was fine."

For a moment Remus relaxed but just as quickly he stiffened "but if I had a kid!" he looked slightly wild.

"Im sure it'll all be fine." Sirius said, his usual sarcastic attitude gone.

"It'll all work out and if it doesn't than we can change it." James assured.

Remus nodded but still looked worried. Harry knew that he wasn't supposed to reveal evidence but he didn't really care at the moment. "You do have a kid." said Harry

A look of happiness and apprehension passed across Remus' face. "He isn't-" for the billionth time they glanced at Lilly but Harry didn't care id she felt left out, it was obvious a huge weight had been lifted off Remus. A grin broke across Remus' face so wide that it hurt his face.

"You're going to have sex with a 6 year." said Sirius, the arrogant twinkle back in his eyes.

Remus rolled his eyes "she won't be six then." he said but he was a little weirded out by the age difference.

"Not fare, you guys will be related!" complained James

"Wait!" Lilly shouted "What the hell are you guys talking about!"

"Evans swore!" gasped James in mock horror, trying his best to bring the attention off of Remus.

"Don't try to change the subject James! What is going on? All of you seem to know but me!"

Harry glanced at Remus who seemed to be ready to bolt and couldn't help but take pity on him "We can't explain now."

"What do you mean you 'can't explain now'!?" demanded Lilly, her temper rising

"It'll upset time or whatever. It should be coming up soon though, I remember a conversation that takes place about it so it should be soon." Harry explanation was barely enough to contain Lilly but she calmed down just enough to continue reading.

** Disgusted jeering and laughter gushed forth from the table, cat calls and names were thrown at the related family. The Death Eaters were delighted at the Malfoy's humiliation, reveling in the dishonored family's shame.**

** This time the color that flushed Bellatrix's face was bright, blotchy, anger "That blood traitor is no niece of ours; she picked her side when she allowed that half breed beast to come near her. She has disgraced our pureblood name." as if to seal her words she spit on the ground.**

Sirius and James suddenly looked murderous, "He's not a beast or anything of the sort!"

"You're a werewolf!?" Lilly exclaimed

There's was silence, Lilly glanced between the three Marauders; James and Sirius had shifted themselves protectively in front of Remus as if the expected her to lash out, Remus looked everywhere but at her, seemingly ashamed.

"That actually explains a lot."

"What?" asked Remus, surprise that Lilly had not proclaimed her hate for him right away was written across his face

"I mean you three and… Peter," she looked warily back and forth from the murderous gazes before ploughing on "always disappear on the full moon. The only question is why in the world do you go with him? You couldn't be anywhere near him when he turns, so where do you go?"

A moment ago the three had all relaxed but now they were equally as rigid as they had been before. "That is for use to know and you to eventually find out."

Lilly opened her mouth to snap out a response when James stood "I don't think we need to keep this from her, Sirius."

"James," Sirius eyes Lilly distrustfully "I don't think that's a good idea."

Harry took this moment to interject "We all already know, so I'm guessing it will be in the book. You might as well tell her."

Sirius and James shared a mental battle before finally Sirius relented "Fine! But listen here Evans, you can't go around telling everyone. Actually you can't tell anyone." Sirius did not look happy in the least

"I can't tell anyways, remember? Anything we say in this room stays here unless Harry says otherwise."

"I'm going to regret this- you first Prongs."

"Well I'm gonna start from scratch; you know our nicknames, Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs?" James started his explanation

"Ya- oh, I get Moony, because that's Remus but what about the rest of you?"

With one last look at Sirius, James stared straight ahead. Lilly gave a small scream as he began to shrink; becoming longer, thinning out, his spine bending until his arms touched the ground, becoming slender, antlers growing from his head.

"You're an Animagus!?" gasped Lilly, her eyes wide

In answer James/Prongs nuzzled her with his snout before promptly shifting back. "Prongs, at your service." He grinned

"I can't believe it! That one of the most difficult potions I've ever seen! How long-"

"How long have we been Animagus? Sense third year, my idea of course. Never did tell Moony until we were already changed." Explained James.

"They knew if I had known I would have turned them in because the process is extremely dangerous." Said Remus, he looked reprimanding but also reverent, like he couldn't believe someone would do that for him.

"Took us a year to finish, bloody frustrating but this way we could say with him. He wasn't so," Sirius gave a apprehensive glance at Remus "Self destructive when we were there."

Lilly grinned, she was surprised they had managed to complete such an intricate piece of magic without Remus' help and in only second year but she could see why; they had done it for their friend "So what are you Sirius? Your names padfoot…" Sirius gave her a woof from dog form before turning back "And what about Peter?" she asked cautiously

"He's a rat, fits him perfectly; the good for nothing piece of crap." Snarled Sirius.

They settled back down. Harry had watched the entire exchange in silence. He wondered what they would think of his Animagus, they must know that their Animagus is the same as their Patronus and a Patronus takes the form of your spirit animal or soul animal.

Harry remembered when he'd taken the potion to see what his Animagus would be; it had been a stag, just like his Patronus so he'd gone through with the transformation, working every chance he got at making sure it was all just rite but of course something had to go wrong. His Patronus wasn't the same anymore and neither was his Animagus. Harry had taken the last potion to secure his Animagus form permanently directly after the Battle of Hogwarts, he had remembered Sirius saying that being an animal dulled your emotions and he hadn't thought twice. It was too bad for him that he hadn't know his results had changed sense the last time he'd checked.

** "Draco," Voldemort turned his red gaze on the youngest occupant at the table "will you wash the cubs?"**

** The jeers rose above the sounds of banging fists on wood and pounding feet on floorboards. Draco's sallow face became bloodless with fear, he glanced to his mother for the slightest indication of behavior, Narcissa shook her head so lightly that it was almost undetectable.**

"**Enough," Voldemort's silky voice cut through the ruckus like a hot knife through butter. "Shh, Nagini, shh." He stroked the diamond head of the great snake as the table fell silent.**

"**There aren't many of our oldest family trees that don't become a little diseased over time," he said as Bellatrix gazed at him with reverence.**

"**You must cut them back and keep them healthy, prune until there is nothing but nurturing strength." He regarded Nagini with fondness.**

** "Yes, My Lord, she will know that she has no place among us!" she starred with rapt reverence.**

"**And in your family, so in the world . . . we shall cut away the canker that infects us until only those of the true blood remain . . . "**

** Lucius Malfoy's wand was pointed towards the revolving women above the tabel, Voldemorts spidely fingers held the silver snake head base, with a small flick the figure came to life.**

** "Severus, do you recognize our guest?" Snape raised his black eyes to the upside down face, one eyebrow cocked**

** "Ah, Charity Burbage."**

Both Hermione and Lilly gasped and gave a sob of sympathy, they both took Muggle Studies and Charity Burbage was a rather nice teacher.

**He did not seem to appear perturbed in the slightest. The Death Eaters were all starring openly now, most did not know who she was.**

** "Severus! Help me!" she groaned and struggled against invisible bonds.**

"He's just ignoring her?" asked Lilly, appalled at her best friend, well, her ex-best friend.

"Slimy Git." said Sirius

Harry grimaced but did not disagree, he knew that there was nothing Snape could do, if he had showed any emotion they both would have been killed but it was not a moment in which Harry felt any need to defend his former potions master.

** "Draco, what do you think?" Voldemort's voice held the smallest amount of humor as he watched Malfoy's face contort into a look of horror "I see, none the less, you would not have taken her classes." Voldemort flicked his wrist and the women was suspended so as to display her face better. "Charity Burbage taught at Hogwarts School of**

**Witchcraft and Wizardry."**

"**Yes . . . Professor Burbage taught the children of witches and**

**wizards all about Muggles . . . how they are not so different from**

**us . . . " The death eaters jeered, one spat on the floor. **

**Charity Burbage revolved to face Snape again. "Severus . . . please . . . please . . . "**

James made a noise of disgust but did not voice anything else.

"**Silence," said Voldemort, with another twitch of Malfoy's**

**wand, and Charity fell silent although her lips still moved as if she was still pleading with Snape. **

"**Not content with filling the minds of young Wizarding children with corruption, last week Professor Burbage wrote a defense of Mud-**

**bloods article in the Daily Prophet. According to her Wizards must accept those who teal the right to learn the knowledge of magic. The dwindling of the purebloods is a most desirable circumstance, according to Professor Burbage . . . She would have us all mate with Muggles . . . or,**

**no doubt, werewolves . . . "**

**Nobody laughed this time; there was no mistaking the anger**

**and contempt in Voldemort's voice.**

"Hypocrite." Harry mumbled angrily, this was met by confused looks.

"Hypocrite?" asked Remus

"He's a half-blood." Said Harry

"A half-blood!?" exclaimed Lilly "But he hates everyone who isn't pure-blood!"

"Like I said; hypocrite."

**For the third time, Charity Burbage revolved to face Snape. Tears were pouring from her eyes into her hair. Snape looked back at her; he barely blinked in recognition as she slowly continued around in a circle.**

This time, much to the satisfaction of James, it was Lilly who made a rude sound towards Snape. Harry still did not comment but he pursed his lips together, he was conflicted about whether to defend him or not.

"**Avada Kedavra."**

Hermione gave a small sad hiccup and Lilly looked down sadly.

**The table groaned under the now limp form that lay broken across it's surface. Voldemort looked unfazed "Dinner Nagini." From its perch on his shoulder the great snake slithered forth, Death Eaters jumped backwards as the great body weaved it way across the dark table top. The snake fit its jaw comfortably around the women's head, obscuring her wide, lifeless eyes from view as she was slowly consumed by the great snake.**

"And thats the end." said Sirius in disgust.

"That was terrible." said Lilly

"Hopefully the other chapters will be nicer." said James

"I wouldn't count on it." Said Ron "Seventh year was anything but a walk in the park." this was met with more groans.

"How come Voldemort is so interested in you?" asked Remus

"That's not really a question I can answer." said Harry

"Why not?" asked Lilly

"Because it will be in the book and I was told not to reveal too much." Harry said. Sirius looked slightly annoyed but it didn't matter.

"My question is how come you look so much like James?" asked Sirius

Harry thought quickly "I'm actually his twice removed cousin."

"I don't have any relatives." said James.

"My parents live in this small town and we only realized we were related to you when I was in my first year."

"Cool, maybe you can visit for the holiday's sometime." said James

"Ya," said Harry "Maybe."

"Next chapter?" asked Hermione.

"Who's going to read next?" asked Remus.

"I will." said Lilly "Pass the book."


	2. Chapter 2: In Memorium

_**Thank you everybody who fanned! This is my first FanFic and it was nice that I got three favorites in the first few minutes! 3**_

_**I DON'T OWN HARRY POTTER!**_

"_I will." said Lilly "Pass the book."_

**Chapter 2 **

**In Memoriam **

"I wonder who died?" mused Sirius to himself.

**Harry was bleeding.**

Hermione sighed. "Thats not exactly news, mate." Ron said.

"Why?" asked Lilly

"He tends to get hurt a lot." explained Hermione

"Hmmm..." said James "I might just like this bloke." Harry gave an involuntary twitch.

"Ya. Well, its not like I try to, it just happens." explained Harry. Ron and Hermione rolled their eyes.

**Clutching his right hand in his left **

**and swearing under his breath, he shouldered open his **

**bedroom door. There was a crunch of breaking china. **

**He had trodden on a cup of cold tea that had been **

**sitting on the floor outside his bedroom door. **

"Why was that there?" asked Remus

Harry scoffed "Ya, I'm sure thats why."

"Why wouldn't it be?" asked Lilly. Harry shook his head and waved off the rest of the question but he still received a lot of strange looks.

"**What the— ?" **

**He looked around, the landing of number four, Privet Drive, **

**was deserted. Possibly the cup of tea was Dudley's idea of a clever **

**booby trap.**

"His idea of a what?" asked James, disbelief plastered his face.

"Nope," Sirius said, who had re-read the sentence over Lilly's shoulder "you didn't hear wrong."

"Thats not even a bad booby trap." said Remus

"My worry is that I worked." said James

"It probably wasn't even supposed to do anything. Now can we read." said Lilly

**Keeping his bleeding hand elevated, Harry scraped **

**the fragments of cup together with the other hand and threw them **

**into the already crammed bin just visible inside his bedroom door. **

**Then he tramped across to the bathroom to run his finger under **

**the tap. **

**It was stupid, pointless, irritating beyond belief that he still **

**had four days left of being unable to perform magic . . . but he had **

**to admit to himself that this jagged cut in his finger would have **

**defeated him.**

"It really isn't that hard." said Lilly, who was very good at healing charms.

"I'm not very good at charms." admitted Harry but Lilly simply shrugged.

**He had never learned how to repair wounds, and **

**now he came to think of it — particularly in light of his immediate **

**plans**

"Whats are the immediate plans?" asked Remus. Hermione opened her mouth to reply but Remus beat her to the punch "Let me guess, it will explain?" Hermione nodded and the group sighed.

—**it seemed a serious flaw in his magical education. Making a **

**mental note to ask Hermione how it was done,**

Hermione smiled.

**he used a large wad of toilet paper to mop up as much of the tea as he could, before **

**returning to his bedroom and slamming the door behind him. **

**Harry had spent the morning completely emptying his school **

**trunk for the first time since he had packed it six years ago.**

"You haven't unpacked in six year?" asked Hermione. Harry shook his head.

"Neither have I." said Sirius

"Thats gross." said Hermione and Lilly at the same time.

"Why unpack when you are simply going to repack it?" asked Sirius in a matter-of-fact voice.

"To wash it?" said Lilly, in the same tone

Sirius wrinkled his nose "What for?"

Both Lilly and Hermione wrinkled their noses "Charming." Lilly said.

**At the start of the intervening school years, he had merely skimmed off**

**the topmost three quarters of the contents and replaced or updated **

**them, leaving a layer of general debris at the bottom — old quills, **

**desiccated beetle eyes,**

The girls in the room looked equally disgusted.

**single socks that no longer fit. Minutes previously, Harry had plunged his hand into this mulch, experienced a **

**stabbing pain in the fourth finger of his right hand, and withdrawn **

**it to see a lot of blood. He now proceeded a little more cautiously. **

**Kneeling down beside the trunk again, he groped around in the **

**bottom and, after retrieving an old badge that flickered feebly be- **

**tween SUPPORT CEDRIC DIGGORY and POTTER STINKS,**

"Potter's do not stink." said James, rather offended

"James, Harry might not but you could use a bath." said Remus. The same offended look crossed James' face again and Harry couldn't help but laugh.

"Well, whoever this Cedric bloke is, isn't very nice." said Lilly.

Harry knew that his mother was only trying to make him feel better but it instantly wiped the smile of his face. Hermione noticed and brushed her hand against his arm but he simply shrugged it off. "He was nice." said Harry "The badges weren't his fault." explained Harry in a dejected tone. Lilly felt bad, she knew that shed hit a swore spot with Harry but she didn't know how, so she simply continued to read.

**A cracked and worn-out Sneakoscope, and a gold locket**

Harry grimaced at that and again Hermione and Ron both tried to comfort him, in vain.

**inside which a note signed R.A.B.**

Sirius looked rather startled "Regulus?" he looked at Harry and the others but he looked away and said in an annoyed voice "Ya, I know, ill find out later."

**had been hidden, he finally discovered the **

**sharp edge that had done the damage. He recognized it at once. It **

**was a two-inch-long fragment of the enchanted mirror that his dead **

**godfather,**

Here Lilly paused. She looked sadly at the book, wishing that it could have been someone else. "What?" asked James. "What happened?" asked Sirius. Remus looked over Lilly's shoulder and he made a small sound in his throat "Oh..." he said. Sirius and James were looking between the two, confused. Lilly began again.

**Sirius,**

"What!?" James snapped. Sirius looked surprisingly calm.

Sirius sighed "I better have died awesomly." nobody bothered to tell him that 'awsomely' wasn't a word.

"What are you talking about Sirius?" James said, taken aback by how calm his best friend was at the prospect of his death.

James was about to go on when Sirius raised his hand "Look, we can change it, okay? Lets just read." James looked angry but he crossed his arms and was quiet.

**had given him.**

"If Harry's my godson I wonder who your parents are?" said Sirius, ignoring his own plea of continuing to read.

Harry stiffened. He knew that it would come at some point, how could it not but it still was daunting. "It will say in the book, I'm sure." said Harry, avoiding it for as long as possible.

**Harry laid it aside and felt cautiously around the trunk for the rest, but nothing more remained **

**of his godfather's last gift except powdered glass, which clung to **

**the deepest layer of debris like glittering grit. **

"Wait? Is that our old mirror?" asked Sirius

"The communicators?" asked Remus and Sirius nodded.

"It was." said Harry, glad for a question he could answer.

"What are communicators?" asked Lilly, the only one who did not know.

"We invented them." Said James, happy to show off to Lilly

"You invented them?" asked Lilly, her surprise was evident.

"Don't sound so surprised, we have Remus don't we? Plus I was the one who thought of the idea." Sirius said, he to was happy to brag, though not for the same reasons as James.

"Hey, I helped." James pouted.

"Sure you did." said Sirius.

"I did!" he said incredulously. All the occupants in the room rolled their eyes at James, who pouted as Lilly continued to read.

**Harry sat up and examined the jagged piece on which he had cut **

**himself, seeing nothing but his own bright green eye reflected back **

**at him. Then he placed the fragment on top of that morning's **

**Daily Prophet, which lay unread on the bed, and attempted to **

**stem the sudden upsurge of bitter memories, the stabs of regret **

**and of longing the discovery of the broken mirror had occasioned,**

"Were we close?" asked Sirius, it would have been nice to have a familymember that he actually licked, besides Tonks.

"Yes." said Harry, he looked so sad but nobody knew what to do, not even Ron or Hermione, they were strangers to Harry now.

**by attacking the rest of the rubbish in the trunk. **

**It took another hour to empty it completely, throw away the **

**useless items, and sort the remainder in piles according to whether **

**or not he would need them from now on. His school and Quidditch **

**robes, cauldron, parchment, quills, and most of his textbooks were **

**piled in a corner, to be left behind.**

"Why would they be left behind?" asked Remus

"Maybe they don't need them this year." said Sirius

"It sounds like your not going back to school." said Lilly

"They aren't going to tell us." said James

**He wondered what his aunt and **

**uncle would do with them; burn them in the dead of night, probably, as if they were the evidence of some dreadful crime.**

"Why would they do that?" asked Lilly

"They aren't exactly happy with the fact I'm a wizard." Harry said bitterly

"Your a muggel born?" asked Remus

"No, I'm not." said Harry in the same bitter tone as before.

"Then why wouldn't they like that your a wizard?" asked James

Sirius, showing the tact that he so often hid, said "He doesn't have to explain." Lilly, who had never witnessed one of his rare moments of understanding, looked at him with surprise.

"You were just nice?" Lilly said.

"Ya, I was, so what?" Sirius asked.

"So, your never nice." Lilly explained

"Ya, well, I get the whole home problem thing." Sirius said, avoiding her eyes. Lilly, realizing she'd hit a nerve again, something she was doing rather often, continued reading.

**His Muggle clothing, Invisibility Cloak,**

"You have an invisibility Cloak to?" James asked, excited.

"Ya." Harry said

"You have an Invisibility Cloak?" Lilly asked, astonished. "Those are really rare!" she said

"It's passed down in the family." explained James "How's you get yours, Harry?"

"Same as yours, family heirloom." he answered

"Must be a Potter tradition." speculated Remus

**potion-making kit, certain books, **

**the photograph album Hagrid had once given him, a stack of letters, and his wand had been repacked into an old rucksack. In **

**a front pocket were the Marauder's Map**

"You have the map!?" exclaimed Remus, Sirius and James.

"It's like your a mini James." said Sirius

"So iv been told." said Harry, irony was evident in his voice.

"Why would you be told that?" asked Sirius

"Well the Marauders are rather famous in Hogwarts for your pranks." explained Ron, a note of admiration in his voice.

"Of course we are." said Sirius

"Whats the Marauders Map?" asked Lilly

' "Another one of our inventions, this one was mostly my idea." Said James, this time he did not hold back any pride.

"But what does it do?" asked Lilly

"It shows a map of the castle and every person in it, what their doing and where they are at all times." boasted James. Lilly raised her eyebrows but besides that would not show her surprise, much to the disappointment of James.

**and the locket with the **

**note signed R.A.B. inside it. The locket was accorded this place **

**on honor not because it was valuable — in all usual senses it was **

**worthless —but because of what it had cost to attain it.**

"What did it cost?" asked James

"A life." Harry said and again his tone was enough for them to drop the subject.

**This left a sizable stack of newspapers sitting on his desk beside **

**his snowy owl, Hedwig:**

Harry felt a pang in his chest as he remembered his owl. Hermione, placed a hand on his shoulder and although he stiffened, he did not pull away.

**one for each of the days Harry had spent **

**at Privet Drive this summer. **

**He got up off the floor, stretched, and moved across to his desk. **

**Hedwig made no movement as he began to flick through the news- **

**papers, throwing them into the rubbish pile one by one. The owl was **

**asleep, or else faking: she was angry with Harry about the limited **

**amount of time she was allowed out of her cage at the moment.**

"How come she wasn't allowed out?" asked Remus

"My family doesn't like magic or anything to do with it." Harry said

"Well they must like you." said James, he was so sure that no one could hate their own family but his matter of fact air evaporated as soon as he saw the look on his face. "Oh." James said. The silence stretched for several awkward seconds. Lily and Sirius were both thinking how similar there family was compared to Harry's.

**As he neared the bottom of the pile of newspapers, Harry slowed **

**down, searching for one particular issue that he knew had arrived **

**shortly after he had returned to Privet Drive for the summer; he remembered that there had been a small mention on the front about **

**the resignation of Charity Burbage, the Muggle Studies teacher**

**Hogwarts.**

"She didn't resign." said Hermione sadly

**At last he found it. Turning to page ten, he sank into **

**his desk chair and reread the article he had been looking for. **

**ALBUS DUMBLEDORE REMEMBERED**

"What!? How could he die? Hes so," James trailed off, unable to find a word that could describe Dumbledore "well, he so Dumbledore." he finished

"This is what the locket cost." said Harry, his voice was not sad or angry, his voice was hollow and void of all emotion.

"Were you there?" asked Lilly

"Yes, I was." said Harry. His fault, all his fault.

"What happened?" asked Remus

"It'll say in the book." said Sirius sarcastically but Harry could here that softness underneath his flippant attitude. Harry had heard about his godfather's arrogance while he was in school but he could also see the older Sirius underneath. He wasn't as sad or haunted but there was still a darkness in his eyes that Harry hated.

Harry wondered to himself whether he now looked like the Sirius a few days previous to his death; sad, alone and old. He didn't want to be as bitter as Sirius had been but he knew he was.

**by Elphias Doge **

**I met Albus Dumbledore at the age of eleven, on our **

**first day at Hogwarts. Our mutual attraction was **

**undoubtedly due to the fact that we both felt ourselves to be outsiders. I had contracted dragon pox shortly before arriving at school, and while I was **

**no longer contagious, my pockmarked visage and **

**greenish hue**

"Attractive." joked James

"Looks like all those girls have some competition." said Sirius, now back to his old self, he raised his eyebrows at James

"Definitely! I'm head over heels for Elphias Doge." He replied in a bad representation of an infatuated voice.

"Somehow," said Remus "I don't think this will deter them much." They all broke down into uncontrollable guffaws and even Harry couldn't help but crack a smile. Harry's smile was mostly to the fact that he had seen a flash, but only a flash, of jealousy on his mum's face as the Marauders joked about James very real throngs of admirers.

**did not encourage many to approach **

**me. For his part, Albus had arrived at Hogwarts **

**under the burden of unwanted notoriety. Scarcely a **

**year previously, his father, Percival, had been convicted of a savage and well-publicized attack upon three young Muggles.**

"Thats so weird." said James, the rest of his group were thinking the same.

"Why would he attack Muggles?" asked Lilly

"Maybe he was one of those people who just hates them." said Sirius, dislike was evident in his voice and all but Lilly knew that he was thinking of his own family.

"Who would have thought that Dumbledore's father was a Muggle hater?" asked James

"He had a good reason." said Harry, for the first time in almost a month Ron and Hermione nodded their heads in agreement.

"What is a good reason for attacking Muggle children?" asked Lilly, her voice was defensive, after all she had a Muggle family.

"The book will tell you." said Ron, this time there was exasperation in his voice, he had no desire to explain what ha happened to Ariana.

**Albus never attempted to deny that his father **

**(who was to die in Azkaban)**

Sirius grimaced here, he knew what Azcaban was like and to die there for a reason that, according to Harry, was justified was a terrible fate.

**had committed this **

**crime; on the contrary, when I plucked up courage **

**to ask him, he assured me that he knew his father **

**to be guilty.**

"It sounds like Dumbledore thought he did the rite thing." said Remus, a little taken aback

"He did." said Harry

"How could he possibly think that was okay?!" said Lilly but she sighed and in answer to herself said "Yes, I know, the book will tell me." Ron and Hermione nodded.

**Beyond that, Dumbledore refused to **

**speak of the sad business, though many attempted **

**to make him do so. Some, indeed, were disposed to **

**praise his father's action and assumed that Albus **

**too was a Muggle-hater. They could not have been **

**more mistaken. As anybody who knew Albus would **

**attest, he never revealed the remotest anti-Muggle **

**tendency.**

Harry raised his eyebrows.

**Indeed, his determined support for Muggle rights gained him many enemies in subsequent years. **

"Thats true." said Lilly, she was still on edge about the Muggles but she knew that Dumbledore, whatever his previous beliefs, now fought openly for Muggle rights.

**In a matter of months, however, Albus's own **

**fame had begun to eclipse that of his father. By **

**the end of his first year he would never again be **

**known as the son of a Muggle-hater, but as nothing **

**more or less than the most brilliant student ever **

**seen at the school.**

** "**That is no surprise." said James, who had seen Dumbledore duel before. Many, although not as well versed in his fighting as the Potter boys, Ron and Hermione still knew that he was, without a doubt, one of the best fighters of this time.

**Those of us who were privileged **

**to be his friends benefited from his example, not to **

**mention his help and encouragement, with which he **

**was always generous. He confessed to me in later life **

**that he knew even then that his greatest pleasure **

**lay in teaching. **

**He not only won every prize of note that the **

**school offered, he was soon in regular correspondence with the most notable magical names of the day, including Nicolas Flamel,**

"I didn't know that they were friends back then." said Hermione.

"Why would you care anyways?" asked Remus, not unkindly

"First year, cant explain anymore than that." said Ron, much to the annoyance of everyone else in the room who did not already know.

**the celebrated alchemist; Bathilda Bagshot, the noted historian; and Adalbert Wadding, the magical theoretician. Several of his papers found their way into learned publications such as Transfiguration Today, Challenges in Charming, and The Practical Potioneer.**

Both Hermione and Remus looked surprised "Those are all well know books!" excaimed Hermione

Remus nodded "I have all of them and I didn't even know that." he said and Hermione nodded. The other, except Lilly, rolled their eyes.

**Dumbledore's future career seemed likely to be meteoric, **

**and the only question that remained was when he **

**would become Minister of Magic.**

"Never." said James

"Really? No way!" excaimed Sirius in mock suprise.

"Guys," said Remus, they turned to him "Shut up." they both mocked bowed but were silent.

**Though it was often predicted in later years that he was on the point of taking the job, however, he never had Ministerial **

**ambitions. Three years after we had started at Hogwarts, **

**Albus's brother, Aberforth,**

"I didn't even know he had a brother." said Llly

"Neither did I." said Remus.

"Not many people did." said Harry

"Why not?" asked James

"They weren't very close after they left Hogwarts." explained Harry

"I wonder why." said Remus

James and Sirius looked at each other "Who cares? Hogshead!" they yelled in unison and Remus chuckled, he knew they loved that bar and it was probably due to them the place was still in business.

**arrived at school. They were not alike; Aberforth was never bookish and, **

**unlike Albus, preferred to settle arguments by dueling rather than through reasoned discussion. However, it is quite wrong to suggest, as some have, that **

**the brothers were not friends. They rubbed along **

**as comfortably as two such different boys could do. **

**In fairness to Aberforth, it must be admitted that **

**living in Albus's shadow cannot have been an altogether comfortable experience. Being continually outshone was an occupational hazard of being his **

**friend and cannot have been any more pleasurable **

**as a brother. **

Ron grimaced here and both Hermione and Harry knew that Ron struggled with the same feeling in both his life with his family and his friends. Hermione leaned over a gave him a quick kiss and he immediately looked better. Harry sighed, he'd wanted to comfort Ron but he hadn't known how, they were complete strangers.

**When Albus and I left Hogwarts we intended to **

**take the then-traditional tour of the world together, **

**visiting and observing foreign wizards, before pursuing our separate careers. However, tragedy intervened. **

**On the very eve of our trip, Albus's **

**mother, Kendra, died,**

"I never knew that Dumbledore had such a difficult life." said Lilly and Remus nodded, James and Sirius were to busy attacking their mincemeat pies to care.

**leaving Albus the head, and **

**sole breadwinner, of the family. I postponed my departure long enough to pay my respects at Kendra's **

**funeral, then left for what was now to be a solitary journey. With a younger brother and sister to care for,**

"He has a sister to?" asked Lilly, now completely confused. Remus looked equally baffled. Hermione nodded.

"I never really thought of Dumbledore's life before now." said Remus

"Nobody ever does." said Harry, bitterly. Remus and Lilly looked at him oddly but did not push the subject.

**and little gold left to them, there could no **

**longer be any question of Albus accompanying me. **

**That was the period of our lives when we had **

**least contact. I wrote to Albus, describing, perhaps insensitively, the wonders of my journey,**

** "**That wouldn't of helped to have the adventures he could not have written to him in full detail." said Lilly, Remus nodded.

** from narrow escapes from chimeras in Greece to the experiments of Egyptian alchemists. His letters told **

**me little of his day-to-day life, which I guessed to **

**be frustratingly dull for such a brilliant wizard. Immersed in my own experiences, it was with horror that I heard, toward the end of my year's travels, **

**that yet another tragedy had struck the Dumbledores: the death of his sister, Ariana.**

"She died to?" asked James, finally rejoining the conversation.

"His whole family died." said Sirius, whipping his mouth unceremoniously with the back of his sleeve.

"He still has his brother and we know he's still alive." said Remus

"Ya, well, thats little consolation." said James, who was now distracted once again by the appearance of treacle tart. Harry couldn't help it, he quickly conjured his own, rather over sized, pie tin of tart and promptly finished it within the minute.

Lilly and Hermione looked at each other, sighed and said together "Boys." in the most exasperated voice as the whole room broke down into an impromptu lunch.

As lunch finally came to a close, after the girls gave in and joined the conjuring of food, the book was picked up and they resumed their reading.

**Though Ariana had been in poor health for a **

**long time,**

** "**Why was she sick?" asked Sirius

"In the book." said Harry and Sirius nodded. Harry was surprised that he hadn't argued the point.

**the blow, coming so soon after the loss **

**of their mother, had a profound effect on both of **

**her brothers. All those closest to Albus-and I count **

**myself one of that lucky number-agree that Ariana's **

**death, and Albus's feeling of personal responsibility **

**for it (though of course, he was guiltless),**

"But even if he was guiltless why would he feel responsible?" asked James

"People feel guilty for stuff the haven't done all the time." said Ron, giving a Harry a pointed look but he ignored it.

"I suppose." but somehow he couldn't see Dumbledore feeling guilty unless there was a reason.

**left their mark upon him forevermore. **

**I returned home to find a young man who had **

**experienced a much older person's suffering.**

Again Ron pointedly looked at Harry but this time Hermione joined in, he eyes full of pity that he couldn't stand.

**Albus was more reserved than before, and much less lighthearted. To add to his misery, the loss of Ariana had led, not to a renewed closeness between **

**Albus and Aberforth, but to an estrangement. (In **

**time this would lift-in later years they reestablished, **

**if not a close relationship, then certainly a cordial **

**one.) However, he rarely spoke of his parents or of **

**Ariana from then on, and his friends learned not to **

**mention them.**

Ron thought that Dumbledore's childhood mirrored Harry's almost to the T and he couldn't help but think that it was this resemblance between the two that had made Dumbledore take such a liking to Harry. Dumbledore had wanted to ease Harry's pain as much as he could so that he didn't make the same mistakes that he had.

**Other quills will describe the triumphs of the following years. Dumbledore's innumerable contributions to the state of Wizarding knowledge, including **

**his discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, **

**will benefit generations to come, as will the wisdom **

**he displayed in the many judgments he made while **

**Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot. They say, still, **

**that no Wizarding duel ever matched that between **

**Dumbledore and Grindelwald in 1945.**

Those who knew about the legendary duel nodded their heads.

**Those who **

**witnessed it have written of the terror and the awe **

**they felt as they watched these two extraordinary **

**wizards do battle. Dumbledore's triumph, and its **

**consequences for the Wizarding world, are considered a turning point in magical history to match the introduction of the International Statute of Secrecy **

**or the downfall of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. **

**Albus Dumbledore was never proud or vain; he **

**could find something to value in anyone, however **

**apparently insignificant or wretched, and I believe **

**that his early losses endowed him with great humanity and sympathy. I shall miss his friendship more than I can say, but my loss is as nothing compared to the Wizarding world's. That he was the **

**most inspiring and the best loved of all Hogwarts **

**headmasters cannot be in question. He died as he **

**lived, working always for the greater good and, to **

**his last hour, as willing to stretch out a hand to a **

**small boy with dragon pox as he was on the day **

**that I met him. **

**Harry finished reading but continued to gaze at the picture ac- **

**companying the obituary. Dumbledore was wearing his familiar, **

**kindly smile, but as he peered over the top of his half-moon spectacles, he gave the impression, even in newsprint, of berating Harry, **

**whose sadness mingled with a sense of humiliation. **

**He had thought he knew Dumbledore quite well,**

** "**Why would you know Dumbeldore well?" asked James.

"I thought-" Harry was cut off by Hermione

"Harry, you were close, don't think you weren't but you both had your secrets." Hermione said, doing her best to console him.

Ron, who had not spoken for the majority of this chapter said "He didn't want to tell you everything before you had to know, would you have really wanted to live with all that he could have told you?."

Harry knew they were trying to help but he couldn't help but feel bitter. He had not had secrets from Dumbledore, everything he had ever asked Harry had been answered truthfully. "Ya, whatever."

"What could he have told you that would have been so bad?" asked Remus

"As usual," said Sirius "They will tell us in the book."

**but ever since reading this obituary he had been forced to recognize that he had **

**barely known him at all.**

"You did." said Hermione ounce again.

**Never once had he imagined Dumbledore's childhood or youth; it was as though he had sprung into **

**being as Harry had known him, venerable and silver-haired and **

**old.**

"A young Dumbeldore is an odd thing to imagine." said Sirius

"Its like imagining a dumb Remus." said James'

"Or a modest James." retorted Remus, a twinkle in his eye.

"Or a-" began Sirius

"Oi, shut it!" snapped Lilly

**The idea of a teenage Dumbledore was simply odd, like trying **

**to imagine a stupid Hermione**

Hermione grinned.

**or a friendly Blast-Ended Skrewt.**

"Damn Blast-Ended Skrewt's." Ron said hatefully, even Hermione nodded.

**He had never thought to ask Dumbledore about his past. No **

**doubt it would have felt strange, impertinent even, but after all, it **

**had been common knowledge that Dumbledore had taken part in **

**that legendary duel with Grindelwald, and Harry had not thought **

**to ask Dumbledore what that had been like, nor about any of his **

**other famous achievements. No, they had always discussed Harry, **

**Harry's past, Harry's future, Harry's plans . . . **

** "**You really were close." said Remus

**and it seemed to **

**Harry now, despite the fact that his future was so dangerous and **

**so uncertain,**

"We still don't know why that is." said Sirius but he was ignored, they all knew that the reason would be explained in the book and that they would not get an answer out of the three 'strangers'.

**that he had missed irreplaceable opportunities when **

**he had failed to ask Dumbledore more about himself, even though **

**the only personal question he had ever asked his headmaster was **

**also the only on he suspected that Dumbledore had not answered **

**honestly: **

"**What do you see when you look in the mirror? " **

"**I? I see myself holding a pair of thick, woolen socks."**

** "**What?" asked James

"I think he means the Mirror of Erised." said Lilly

Harry nodded "I was right, he did lie."

"How do you know?" asked Remus

"In the book." said Harry, who was not the only one getting tired of constantly saying it.

**After several minutes' thought, Harry tore the obituary out of **

**the Prophet, folded it carefully, and tucked it inside the first volume **

**of Practical Defensive Magic and Its Use Against the Dark Arts. **

**Then he threw the rest of the newspaper into the rubbish pile and **

**turned to face the room. It was much tidier. The only things left **

**out of place were today's Daily Prophet, still lying on the bed, and **

**on top of it, the piece of broken mirror. **

**Harry moved across the room, slid the mirror fragment off today's Daily Prophet, still lying on the bed, and on top of it, the **

**piece of broken mirror. **

**Harry moved across the room, slid the mirror fragment off today's Prophet, and unfolded the newspaper. He had merely glanced **

**at the headline when he had taken the rolled-up paper from the **

**delivery owl early that morning and thrown it aside, after noting that it said nothing about Voldemort.**

"Of course It didn't, what did you expect?" asked Ron.

"For the Ministry to grow some sense and publish the truth." said Hermione, nods swooped around the circle in agreement.

**Harry was sure that **

**the Ministry was leaning on the Prophet to suppress news about **

**Voldemort. It was only now, therefore, that he saw what he had **

**missed. Across the bottom half of the front page a smaller headline was **

**set over a picture of Dumbledore striding along looking harried: **

**DUMBLEDORE — THE TRUTH AT LAST? **

**Coming next week, the shocking story of the flawed **

**genius considered by many to be the greatest wizard **

**of his generation.**

"Thats because he is." said Remus and although not all were as knowledgeable about his achievements they all agreed.

**Stripping away the popular image of serene, silver-bearded wisdom, Rita Skeeter**

** "**Bloody bitch, I'm turning her in as soon as we get back." said Hermione, surprising them all with her choice language.

"What do you mean your turning her in?" asked Lilly.

"She's an unregistered animagus." said Hermione.

The Marauders all looked at each other uncomfortably.

"We already know." said Ron, reassuringly.

"You do?" asked Sirius.

"Know what." everyone, save Lilly, exchanged looks.

"It'll explain in the book." said James, it was the one thing that he wasn't going to boast about unless he had to.

**reveals the disturbed childhood, the lawless youth, **

**the lifelong feuds, and the guilty secrets that Dumbledore carried to his grave. WHY was the man tipped to be Minister of Magic content to remain a **

**mere headmaster?**

"Because he loved it." said James, a justified note in his voice.

**WHAT was the real purpose of **

**the secret organization known as the Order of the **

**Phoenix? HOW did Dumbledore really meet his **

**end?**

**The answers to these and many more questions **

**are explored in the explosive new biography, The **

**Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore, by Rita Skeeter, **

**exclusively interviewed by Betty Braithwaite, page **

**13, inside. **

**Harry ripped open the paper and found page thirteen. The **

**article was topped with a picture showing another familiar face: **

**a woman wearing jeweled glasses with elaborately curled blond **

**hair, her teeth bared in what was clearly supposed to be a winning **

**smile, wiggling her fingers up at him. Doing his best to ignore this **

**nauseating image, Harry read on. **

**In person, Rita Skeeter is much warmer and **

**softer than her famously ferocious quill-portraits **

**might suggest.**

Hermione scoffed.

**Greeting me in the hallway of her **

**cozy home, she leads me straight into the kitchen **

**for a cup of tea, a slice of pound cake and, it goes **

**without saying, a steaming vat of freshest gossip. **

"**Well, of course, Dumbledore is a biographer's **

**dream," says Skeeter. "Such a long, full life. I'm **

**sure my book will be the first of very, very many." **

**Skeeter was certainly quick off the mark. Her **

**nine-hundred-page book was completed a mere four **

**weeks after Dumbledore's mysterious death in June. **

**I ask her how she managed this superfast feat. **

"**Oh, when you've been a journalist as long as **

**I have, working to a deadline is second nature. I **

**knew that the Wizarding world as clamoring for the **

**full story and I wanted to be the first to meet that **

**need." **

**I mentioned the recent, widely publicized remarks of Elphias Doge, Special Advisor to the Wizengamot and longstanding friend of Albus Dumbledore's, that "Skeeter's book contains less fact than **

**a Chocolate frog card." **

"But Chocolate Frog Cards are fact." said James

The occupants in the room, even Sirius, rolled their eyes. "He means that there is less fact in her whole book than in one card." explained Remus

"Oh." said James

**Skeeter throws back her head and laughs. **

"**Darling Dodgy! I remember interviewing him **

**a few years back about merpeople rights, bless him. **

**Completely gaga, seemed to think we were sitting **

**at the bottom of Lake Windermere, kept telling me **

**to watch out for trout." **

**And yet Elphias Doge's accusations of inaccuracy have been echoed in many places. Does Skeeter really feel that four short weeks have been enough **

**to gain a full picture of Dumbledore's long and extraordinary life? **

"**Oh, my dear," beams Skeeter, rapping me affectionately across the knuckles, "you know as well as I do how much information can be generated by **

**a fat bag of Galleons, a refusal to hear the word **

'**no,' and a nice sharp Quick-Quotes Quill! People **

**were queuing to dish the dirt on Dumbledore anyway. Not everyone thought he was so wonderful, you know — he trod on an awful lot of important **

**toes. But old Dodgy Doge can get off his high hippogriff, because I've had access to a source most **

**journalists would swap their wands for, one who has **

**never spoken in public before and who was close to **

**Dumbledore during the most turbulent and disturbing phase of his youth." **

**The advance publicity of Skeeter's biography has **

**certainly suggested that there will be shocks in store **

**for those who believe Dumbledore to have led a **

**blameless life. What were the biggest surprises she **

**uncovered, I ask? **

"**Now, come off it, Betty, I'm not giving away all **

**the highlights before anybody's bought the book!" **

**laughs Skeeter. **

"**But I can promise that anybody who still thinks Dumbledore was white as his **

**beard is in for a rude awakening! Let's just say **

**that nobody hearing him rage against You-Know-Who would have dreamed that he dabbled in the Dark Arts himself in his youth!**

"What a liar, nobody's gonna believe such rubbish." said Lilly

"It isn't rubbish, its true." said Harry. There were a few shocked faces.

"What do you mean 'its true'?" asked Remus

"I mean that its true, he did 'dabble in the Dark Arts'." said Harry

"But how would you know that, even if it were true?" asked James

"Like I said, I was given enough information to assume that we were close." said Harry. Ron and Hermione were taken aback, for the first time in their friendship with Harry his tone had been condescending.

**And for a wizard **

**who spent his later years pleading for tolerance, he **

**wasn't exactly broad-minded when he was younger!**

"That has to be a lie!?" said Lilly, looking to Harry for conformation but Harry simply shook his head. A look of doubt came over Lilly's face and weather it was directed towards truth in Harry;s knowledge or the pedestal that she had undoubtedly placed Dumbledore on, Harry did not know.

**Yes, Albus Dumbledore had an extremely murky **

**past, not to mention that very fishy family, which **

**he worked so hard to keep hushed up." **

**I ask whether Skeeter is referring to Dumbledore's brother, Aberforth, whose conviction by the Wizengamot for misuse of magic caused a minor **

**scandal fifteen years ago. **

"**Oh, Aberforth is just the tip of the dung heap." **

**laughs Skeeter. "No, no, I'm talking about much **

**worse than a brother with a fondness for fiddling **

**about with goats,**

"Gross." said Sirius, gaining many sounds of agreement.

**worse even than the Muggle-maiming father — Dumbledore couldn't keep either **

**of them quiet anyway, they were both charged by **

**the Wizengamot. No, it's the mother and the sister **

**that intrigued me, and a little digging uncovered a **

**positive nest of nastiness — but, as I say, you'll have **

**to wait for chapters nine to twelve for full details. **

**All I can say now is, it's no wonder Dumbledore **

**never talked about how his nose got broken." **

**Family skeletons notwithstanding, does Skeeter **

**deny the brilliance that led to Dumbledore's many **

**magical discoveries? **

"**He had brains," she concedes, "although many **

**now question whether he could really take full credit **

**for all of his supposed achievements.**

"Now that is a lie, he didn't steal any ideas." said Harry, accidentally defending Dumbledore. The doubt on Lilly's face eased somewhat.

**As I reveal in **

**chapter sixteen, Ivor Dillonsby claims he had already discovered eight uses of dragon's blood when Dumbledore 'borrowed' his papers." **

**But the importance of some of Dumbledore's **

**achievements cannot, I venture, be denied. What **

**of his famous defeat of Grindelwald? **

"**Oh, now, I'm glad you mentioned Grindelwald," says Skeeter with a tantalizing smile. "I'm afraid those who go dewy eyed over Dumbledore's **

**spectacular victory must brace themselves for a **

**bombshell— or perhaps a Dungbomb. very dirty **

**business indeed. All I'll say is, don't be so sure that **

**there really was the spectacular duel of legend. After they've read my book, people may be forced to **

**conclude that Grindelwald simply conjured a white **

**handkerchief from the end of his wand and came **

**quietly!" **

"Thats a load of horse shit." said James but his voice didn't hold as much conviction as it did before.

But this time Harry nodded "Yes, it is." he said, much to the relief of the others.

**Skeeter refuses to give any more away on this **

**intriguing subject, so we turn instead to the relationship that will undoubtedly fascinate her readers more than any other. **

"**Oh yes," says Skeeter, nodding briskly, "I devote an entire chapter to the whole Potter-Dumbledore relationship. It's been called unhealthy, even **

**sinister.**

** "**Again I say gross." said Sirius

"I'm sure it was nothing like that." said Remus, casting a furtive glance at Harry.

"It wasn't." said Harry

**Again, your readers will have to buy my **

**book for the whole story, but there is no question **

**that Dumbledore took an unnatural interest in Potter from the word go. Whether that was really in the boy's best interests — well, we'll see. It's certainly an open secret that Potter has had a most troubled adolescence." **

** "**It couldn't have been that bad, I mean you have... your family, right?" asked Lilly, who realized that she had touched a previously discovered sore spot. Again Harry did not answer but although his face remained impassive, his eyes looked old and sad.

**I ask whether Skeeter is still in touch with Harry **

**Potter, whom she so famously interviewed last year: **

**a breakthrough piece in which Potter spoke exclusively of his conviction that You-Know-Who had returned.**

"**Oh, yes, we've developed a close bond,"**

"We did not." said Harry with disgust.

**says Skeeter. "Poor Potter has few real friends,**

"Thats not true!" this time is was Ron that was denying Rita's accusations.

**and we met at one of the most testing moments of his life — **

**the Triwizard Tournament.**

** "**You were in the Triwizard Tournament?!" asked James

"Not fare!" said Sirius

"Wasn't it banned almost 50 years ago?" asked Remus

"Yes it was," Said Lilly "They banned it in London because there were to many deaths, why would they bring it back into practice?"

"I don't know." said Harry

"Well, with what happened last time I'm pretty sure that they banned it again." said Ron insensitively, Hermione elbowed him in the ribs.

"What happened?" asked James

"Cedric Diggory was murdered by Voldemort because he was in the way." said Harry, his voice gave nothing away.

"What?" exclaimed Lilly "Why was Voldemort at the Triwizard Tournament?"

"He had an inside man bewitch the cup so that it was a portkey. Cedric and I agreed to a tie and we were both transported. Voldemort didn't need Cedric so he killed him." said Harry in a hollow monotone that he was becoming familiar with.

"Why wouldn't he want Cedric but he would want you?" asked Sirius "How come he's so obsessed with you?"

"It will explain in the book." said Harry and Sirius sighed

**I am probably one of **

**the only people alive who can say that they know **

**the real Harry Potter."**

"Correction, your probably one of the few people in the world that can say Harry hates you." said Ron. Harry didn't hate Skeeter but he did not argue.

**Which leads us neatly to the many rumors still **

**circulating about Dumbledore's final hours. Does **

**Skeeter believe that Potter was there when Dumbledore died? **

** "**You were there?" asked Lilly. Harry nodded. "Thats awful!"

"Why were you there?" asked James

"The book will explain." said Harry

"**Well, I don't want to say too much — it's all in **

**the book — but the eyewitnesses inside Hogwarts **

**castle saw Potter running away from the scene **

**moments after Dumbledore fell, jumped, or was **

**pushed.**

** "**He was cursed." said Harry, receiving no answer.

**Potter later gave evidence against Severus Snape, **

** "**Snivelus killed Dumbledore?!" asked Sirius

"Yes and I said not to call him that." said Harry

"What?" everybody in the room was confused "Why are you defending him?" asked Sirius. Harry didn't answer, only stared him down until he huffed and turned away.

"He killed Dumbledore, you may have grudges against him but why would you defend Snivel- Snape?" asked James

"Look, not everything is exactly as it seems, alright?" said Harry, his impassive mask breaking for just a moment "You should know that more than anyone." said Harry, that shut him up.

**a man against whom he has a notorious **

**grudge.**

"I don't get it, you just defended him!" said Sirius, throughly baffled but Harry ignored him.

**Is everything as it seems? That is for the **

**Wizarding community to decide — once they've read **

**my book." **

**On that intriguing note, I take my leave. there **

**can be no doubt that Skeeter has quilled an instant **

**bestseller, Dumbledore's legions of admirers, meanwhile, may well be trembling at what is soon to emerge about their hero. **

**Harry reached the bottom of the article, but continued to stare **

**blankly at the page. Revulsion and fury rose in him like vomit; **

**he balled up the newspaper and threw it, with all his force, at the **

**wall, where it joined the rest of the rubbish heaped around his **

**overflowing bin. **

**He began to stride blindly around the room, opening empty **

**drawers and picking up books only to replace them on the same **

**piles, barely conscious of what he was doing, as random phrases **

**from Rita's article echoed in his head: An entire chapter to **

**the whole Potter-Dumbledore relationship . . . It's been called unhealthy, even sinister . . . He dabbled in the Dark Arts himself in **

**his youth . . . I've had access to a source most journalists would **

**swap their wands for . . . **

"**Lies!" Harry bellowed,**

"I thought some of them weren't?" said Remus

"I didn't know that then." said Harry, back to his infuriating calm

**and though the window he saw the **

**next-door neighbor, who had paused to restart his lawn mower,**

**look up nervously. **

** "**You have jumpy neighbors." said James. Harry didn't see a point in making a reply

**Harry sat down hard on the bed. The broken bit of mirror **

**danced away from him; he picked it up and turned it over in his **

**fingers, thinking, thinking of Dumbledore and the lies with which **

**Rita Skeeter was defaming him. . . . **

**A flash of brightest blue. Harry froze, his cut finger slipping on **

**the jagged edge of the mirror again. He had imagined it, he must **

**have done. He glanced over his shoulder, but the wall was a sickly **

**peach color of Aunt Petunia's**

Lilly had frozen, she had not realized the meaning of what she had said until after she had read it. "Petunia?" she said cautiously, turning to Harry for conformation, he nodded. She took in his messy, black hair. His thin frame. His glasses, so like James, except for his eyes... he had her eyes! She was shocked, Harry was her son and she had married James, why would she ever marry James!?

Lilly suddenly didn't care. She got up and enveloped a very startled Harry in a hug. Harry stood stock still for the smallest of moments before he leaned in and hugged back. He was taller than his mum by a good half foot but he felt like a small child.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Lilly asked, Harry simply shook head and leaned closer, holding back tears that had been there for years.

The room had been quiet during their exchange but James finally broke the silence and said "Wait, I don't get it. Whats going on and what didn't you tell her?"

Lilly and Harry held on for a moment longer before turning towards James. Lilly looked at Harry for conformation and he nodded. Lilly took a breath "James, Harry is our son." she said bluntly.

James sat their in shock for a whole 30 seconds before jumping up and planting kiss squarely on Lilly's lips. She stood rigidly in place for a split second before leaning in and returning the kiss.

After James had given Harry an awkward handshake and then been scolded by Lilly into giving him an even more awkward hug, they had sat down.

"I get why I'm the godfather." said Sirius

"I wonder what I am?" said Remus, not expecting a reply. Harry wondered if he would be disappointed that he had not been anything of legal substance. But to Harry, Remus had been like a father.

**choosing: There was nothing blue **

**there for the mirror to reflect. He peered into the mirror fragment **

**again, and saw nothing but his own bright green eye looking back **

**at him. **

**He had imagined it, there was no other explanation; imagined it, **

**because he had been thinking of his dead headmaster. If anything **

**was certain, it was that the bright blue eyes of Albus Dumbledore **

**would never pierce him again.**

"Thats the end of the chapter." said Lilly

"I was just thinking something." said Sirius, who was eating a whole roast chicken that had appeared in his lap "If Harry's your son, why was the wall paper Petunia's choosing?" he asked between mouthful's of chicken.

"Why is that?" asked Lilly, now looking at Harry.

Harry turned off his emotions and shut down everything but his ability to speak, something he had gotten very good at. "That will be explained in the book."

Lilly was looking at him suspiciously but he looked away. "Alright, who's next?" she asked.

"I'll go." offered James, who was now sitting hip-to-hip with Lilly, something that Harry was very glad about. It was nice to see his parents so happy together.

Harry wasn't looking forward to reading this chapter, remembering what happened in it. Harry still hadn't explained the depth of the abuse he had suffered at the hands of the Dursley's to anyone, not even Ron and Hermione and this chapter brought up a few of the worse bits.


	3. Chapter 3: The Dursley's Departing

Books » Harry Potter » **Harry Potter reads Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows**

Author: JadeStellz

Rated: T - English - Romance/Tragedy - Reviews: 22 - Published: 06-14-13 - Updated: 06-27-13

id:9390915

**Guys, you have all been great! I would really appreciate some more reviews with any help that you can give me because I could really use it! 3**

**P.S. If any one wants to read my chapters before I write them and critique them I would totally appreciate that!**

**P.P.S. I changed my pen name, although it might not have worked, BUT if it did its JadeStellz**

_(James is reading)_

**Chapter 3 **

**The Dursleys Departing**

**"**I think my sister was dating a Dursley last I heard." said Lilly

**The sound of the front door slamming echoed up the **

**stair and a voice yelled, "Oi, You!"**

"They better not be talking to you like that." said Lilly but Harry knew that this was just the tip of the iceberg, he closed his eyes.

**Sixteen years of being addressed thus**

"16 years of being addressed 'Oi, You? How long have you lived there?" asked James

"As long as I can remember." said Harry

"Why aren't we there?" Asked Lilly

Harry couldn't explain "You couldn't be, you were called away on Voldemort business." lied Harry. He could feel Ron and Hermione's gazes boring into him but he ignored them, he wanted his parents to have just a few more minuted of ignorance, as tainted as they were.

**left Harry in no doubt whom his **

**uncle was calling;**

"We should curse him." said James, who was looking protectively at Harry, which was strange because Harry was a good two years older than his father but never the less, Harry insides gave an involuntary squeeze and he smiled.

"A nice Bat-Bogey Hex to the face would straiten him out." said Sirius

Harry smiled "Don't worry about it, you scare him straight eventually Sirius."

"Hmmm, I'm guessing you wont tell me how I do it?" asked Sirius, Harry shook his head "I wonder how I did. Probably threatened to turn him into a whale."

Ron gave an almighty snort "Not much of a difference there mate."

"Ron!" Hermione scolded but Ron did not look the least abashed.

"Hmmm." said Sirius, a look of deepest thought was on his face and Harry couldn't help but laugh. He knew that it meant no good was coming to his uncle and Harry had a vindictive pleasure he should not of felt at the prospect of Vernon Dursley's displeasure.

**nevertheless, he did not immediately **

**respond. He was still gazing at the mirror fragment in which, for **

**a split second, he had thought he say Dumbledore's eye. It was **

**not until his uncle bellowed, "BOY!"**

Lilly looked angry, James took the opportunity to intertwine his fingers with hers, to his delight she didn't pull away.

**that Harry got slowly to his **

**feet and headed for the bedroom door, pausing to add the piece of **

**broken mirror to the rucksack filled with things he would be taking **

**with him. **

"Where are you going?" asked Remus but he didn't need someone to tell him again that it would be explained in the book, he already knew.

"You better not be dropping out of school your last year." said Lilly, a warning tone in her voice.

"It was necessary." said Harry and held up a hand at the scolding he was about to get from his mother "And the reason will be explained soon." Lilly looked annoyed but she let it go much to Harry's relief.

"**You took your time!" roared Vernon Dursley when Harry appeared at the top of the stairs. "Get down here, I want a word!"**

"He sounds like my mother." said Sirius bitterly, Lilly gave him a startled look, she hadn't known that his family had been so bad.

"The difference would be that my Uncle has no knowledge of the magic world." said Harry bitterly.

"None? he must have some." said Lilly, her parents had been muggle but they knew some of her world.

"None." said Harry "You'll see." he gestured at the book.

**Harry strolled downstairs, his hands deep in his jeans pockets. **

**When he reached the living room he found all three Dursleys. They **

**were dressed for traveling: Uncle Vernon in a fawn zip-up jacket, **

**Aunt Petunia in a neat salmon-colored coat, and Dudly, Harry's **

**large, blond, muscular cousin, in his leather jacket.**

Ron, who had seen Dudley before his wrestling days raised an eyebrow "Muscular?"

"He took up wrestling." explained Harry.

"Oh." said Ron, who could not imagine Dudley without his massive gurth.

"**Yes?" asked Harry. **

"**Sit down!" said Uncle Vernon. Harry raised his eyebrows. **

"**Please!" added Uncle Vernon,**

"He said please?" inquired Ron, not quite believing it. Ron had met Harry's uncle before and he had not been a particularly pleasant meeting.

"He's scarred of me." said Harry, so only Ron could hear, it was like their old days when they'd been close enough to share secrets.

"Scarred? What for?" asked Ron, wondering what Harry had done to force his uncle into a state of semi respectfulness.

"It should explain, it happened the summer before sixth year." said Harry.

"You mean the Dementor attack? Do they still think you did that?" asked Ron

"No, I think they have finally exhausted that. This was something else." Said Harry before returning to an upright position. Ron was dying to know but he kept his mouth shut, he was not about to blow the first chance he had gotten to talk to Harry by snooping.

Harry pulled away from Ron, it had felt nice to talk again but he was still wayed down by a suffocating amount of guilt. There was a small pop and piece of parchment appeared in his hands.

'Part of these books are altered to hide some of your more personal experiences, such as the summer before sixth year.'

Harry was surprised, he had been worried about reading about his summers, partly because of his interaction with the Dursley's but partly because of the reckless things he had done. Harry quickly stashed the note in his pocket before the others could take notice of it.

**wincing slightly as though the word **

**was sharp in his throat.**

"Fat brute." said Ron.

**Harry sat. He though he knew what was coming. His uncle **

**began to pace up and down, Aunt Petunia and Dudley following **

**his movements with anxious expressions. Finally, his large purple **

**face crumpled with concentration,**

"Apparently he's a fat, thick and a brute." said Sirius, James nodded. Both Lilly and Hermione gave them reprimanding looks but there wasn't much conviction behind them, they had to agree.

**Uncle Vernon stopped in front **

**of Harry and spoke. **

"**I've changed my mind," he said. **

"**What a surprise," said Harry. **

"**Don't you talk in that tone — " began Aunt Petunia in a shrill **

**voice, but Vernon Dursley waved her down. **

"**It's all a lot of claptrap," said Uncle Vernon, glaring at Harry **

**with piggy little eyes. "I've decided I don't believe a word of it. **

**We're staying put, we're not going anywhere." **

**Harry looked up at his uncle and felt a mixture of exasperation **

**and amusement. Vernon Dursley had been changing his mind every **

**twenty-four hours for the past four weeks,**

"How annoying." said Remus

"It was." said Harry

**packing and unpacking **

**and repacking the car with every change of heart. Harry's favorite **

**moment had been the one when Uncle Vernon, unaware that Dudley had added his dumbbells to his case since the last time it had **

**been unpacked, had attempted to hoist it back into the boot and **

**collapsed with roars of pain and much swearing. **

"What I would have given to see that." said Ron darkly, Hermione looked at him reproachful "What, he deserved a lot more than that. Watch, you'll agree with me after five minutes of him." defended Ron. Hermione wasn't sure.

"**According to you," Vernon Dursley said now, resuming his **

**pacing up and down the living room, "we — Petunia, Dudley, and **

**I —are in danger. From — from — " **

"**Some of 'my lot,' right," said Harry.**

**"**Whats that supposed to mean?" asked Sirius defensively.

"I'm sorry we had to leave you with them." apologized Lilly, James nodded

"It's not your fault." Harry replied thickly.

"We didn't have to leave, we could have stayed." said Lilly

"No, you couldn't have. You had to go." said Harry. Lilly attempted to open her mouth "Read." Harry said, forcibly cutting her off.

"**Well, I don't believe it," repeated Uncle Vernon, coming to a **

**halt in front of Harry again. "I was awake half the night thinking **

**it's over, and I believe it's a plot to get the house."**

Ron snorted "That house is awful." he said, Harry agreed, secretly so did Hermione.

"**The house?" repeated Harry. "What house?" **

"**This house!" shrieked Uncle Vernon, the vein in his forehead **

**starting to pulse. "Our house! House prices are skyrocketing **

**around here! You want us out of the way and then you're going to do a bit of hocus-pocus**

There were a few raised eyebrows at this and some smirks.

**and before we know it the deeds will **

**be in your name and— " **

"**Are you out of your mind?" demanded Harry. "A plot to get **

**this house? Are you actually as stupid as you look?"**

"It's hard to believe but he's stupider." said Ron

"Wow, that really is hard to believe!" said Remus in mock shock.

"**Don't you dare — !" squealed Aunt Petunia, but again, Vernon waved her down: Slights on his personal appearance were, it **

**seemed, as nothing to the danger he had spotted. **

"**Just in case you've forgotten," said Harry, "I've already got a **

**house, my godfather left me one.**

"I have a house?" asked Sirius, surprised.

"Grimuald place." said Harry

"What!? I assumed Regulus would get it when my parents passed away." said Sirius

Harry quickly looked away but Sirius caught the look on his face. "Oh." he said

James and Remus that despite their differences Sirius loved his brother very much. "I'm sorry, mate." said James

"Remember, we can change this." said Remus

Sirius only looked slightly better but he nodded. Harry wasn't sure if anything they did would change Sirius' brothers mind but he hoped they would. He had an idea, he just hoped it worked. Harry resolved to carry out his plan at the end of the chapter.

**So why would I want this one? **

**All the happy memories?" **

**There was silence. Harry thought he had rather impressed his **

**uncle with this argument.**

Sirius sighed "I wish I hadn't died." he said.

"So do I." said Harry, he looked so sad and old even though he was only seventeen.

"Wait, I get that your Lilly and James have to be one and Sirius is dead but were am I?" asked Remus "I could have taken care of you."

"I didn't even know you were until third year." said Harry

"Why not, hadn't Dumbledore told you anything about us?" asked James

Harry's look turned dark, he had been so much more like his old self sense the last chapter but now he curled back in on himself. "No." and that was the end of the conversation.

"**You claim," said Uncle Vernon, starting to pace yet again, **

"**that this Lord Thing — " **

"Lord Thing?" asked James, flabbergasted.

"We have to call him that from now on!" said Sirius and Remus chuckled along with them.

"Are you guys crazy? What if that gets back to him?!" exclaimed Lilly but nobody cared, they were to busy laughing.

"—**Voldemort," said Harry impatiently, "and we've been **

**through this about a hundred times already. This isn't a claim, **

**it's fact, Dumbledore told you last year, and Kingsley and Mr. **

**Weasley—" **

**Vernon Dursley hunched his shoulders angrily, and Harry **

**guessed that his uncle was attempting to ward of recollections of **

**the unannounced visit, a few days into Harry's summer holidays, **

**of two fully grown wizards. The arrival on the doorstep of Kingsley **

**Shacklebolt and Arthur Weasley had come as a most unpleasant **

**shock to the Dursleys. Harry had to admit, however, that as Mr. **

**Weasley had once demolished half of the living room,**

"Remind me," said James "isn't their a Aurthur Weasly in out year?"

"Ya, we have charms with him and he's a Griffindor." said Remus

"I think we should be extra nice to him." said James and he got many approving nods from the surrounding people.

**his reappearance could not have been expected to delight Uncle Vernon. **

"—**Kingsley and Mr. Weasley explained it all as well," Harry **

**pressed on remorselessly. **

"**Once I'm seventeen, the protective **

**charm that keeps me safe will break,**

"What protection charm?" asked Lilly

"In the book." Harry explained exasperatedly.

**and that exposes you as well **

**as me. The Order is sure Voldemort will target you, whether to **

**torture you to try and find out where I am, or because he thinks **

**by holding you hostage I'd come and try to rescue you." **

**Uncle Vernon's and Harry's eyes met. Harry was sure that **

**in that instant they were both wondering the same thing.**

"Would you?" asked Lilly, she knew that Harry had no extra love for his aunt and uncle but surely he would save them.

Harry looked at her and he answered truthfully. "I don't know."

"I wouldn't." said Sirius, who was becoming more and more aware that Harry's childhood was very alike to his own and that did not comfort him.

**Then Uncle Vernon walked on and Harry resumed, "You've got to go into **

**hiding and the Order wants to help. You're being offered serious **

**protection, the best there is." **

**Uncle Vernon said nothing, but continued to pace up and down. **

**Outside the sun hung low over the privet hedges. The next-door **

**neighbor's lawn mower stalled again. **

"**I thought there was a Ministry of Magic?" asked Vernon Dursley abruptly. **

"**There is," said Harry, surprised. **

"**Well, then, why can't they protect us? It seems to me that, as **

**innocent victims, guilty of nothing more than harboring a marked **

**man,**

**"**Slimy git, I think I nicely aimed hex would put him straight." said James, who only got a small look from Lilly.

"I just remembered something," said Sirius "Didn't you say that your godfather was convicted of murder and put in Azcaban?"

"You did!" said James

"But you also said that he was framed." assured Remus

"Yes, you were convicted of conspiratorial murder and sentenced to Azcaban without a trial." said Harry sadly

"How long was I their?" asked Sirius

"You were there for 12 years before you escaped." said Harry

"You escaped from Azcaban!?" asked Lilly "Nobody's done that before!"

"In our time Sirius was the first to escape Azcaban without outside help. I didn't know about him until my third year." explained Harry

"I was the second?" Sirius pouted.

"Yes and thats all I can say." said Harry. The group sighed but moved on.

**we ought to qualify for government protection!" **

**Harry laughed; he could not stop himself. It was so typical of **

**his uncle to put his hopes in the establishment, even within this **

**world that he despised and mistrusted. **

"**You heard what Mr. Weasley and Kingsley said," Harry **

**replied. "We think the Ministry has been infiltrated." **

"They have." said the Sirius and James at the same time.

**Uncle Vernon strode to the fireplace and back, breathing so **

**heavily that his great black mustache rippled, his face still purple **

**with concentration. **

"**All right," he said, stopping in front of Harry yet again. "All **

**right, let's say, for the sake of argument, we accept this protection. **

**I still don't see why we can't have that Kingsley bloke." **

**Harry managed not to roll his eyes, but with difficulty. This **

**question has also been addressed half a dozen times. **

"**As I've told you," he said through gritted teeth. "Kingsley is **

**protecting the Mug — I mean, your Prime Minister." **

"**Exactly— he's the best!" said Uncle Vernon, pointing at the **

**blank television screen. The Dursleys had spotted Kingsley on the **

**news, walking along discreetly behind the Muggle Prime Minister **

**as he visited a hospital. This, and the fact that Kingsley had **

**mastered the knack of dressing like a Muggle, not to mention a **

**certain reassuring something in his slow, deep voice, had caused **

**the Dursleys to take to Kingsley in a way that they had certainly **

**not done with any other wizard,**

Including himself, Harry thought bitterly.

**although it was true that they **

**had never seen him with his earring in. **

"**Well, he's taken," said Harry. "But Hestia Jones and Dedalus **

**Diggle are more than up to the job — " **

"**If we'd even seen CVs . . . " began Uncle Vernon, but Harry **

**lost patience. Getting to his feet, he advanced on his uncle, now **

**pointing at the TV set himself. **

"**These accidents aren't accidents — the crashes and explosions **

**and derailments and whatever else has happened since we last **

**watched the news. People are disappearing and dying and he's **

**behind it—Voldemort. I've told you this over and over again, he **

**kills Muggles for fun. Even the fogs — they're caused by dementors, **

**and if you can't remember what they are, ask your son!"**

"Why would Dudley know?" asked Remus

"I saved him from two back in my seventh year." said Harry

"You know how to produce a patronus?" asked Remus.

Harry, ignoring the fact that he probably shouldn't say this continued anyway "Yes, actually you taught me how to in my third year." said Harry

"I did? I'm surprised, producing a patronus is tricky, even if its not corporeal." said Remus

"I know, took my awhile to get it but I could produce a shield on my third try." said Harry, he was glad he could boast about something, he was glad he could impress his parents.

"Third try?" said Remus surprised.

"Well you were a good teacher and my main problem was finding a memory happy enough to fuel the patronus. It took me a lot longer to get a corporeal one." explained Harry

"how long?" asked Remus, who could not currently produce a fully formed patronus.

"End of third year." said Harry

"He was amazing," said Hermione, glad that Harry was opening up "Fought off about a hundred of them."

"A hundred! Thats powerful magic!" said Lilly, she to was glad that Harry was opening up, she had noticed how quiet and sad he'd been

"I don't think that any of us can do a corporeal patronus, let alone fight off a hundred dementors at once." said Lilly appraisingly.

"Actually," Sirius said, affronted "I can."

"You can?" asked James, who was surprised that Sirius hadn't rubbed it in earlier

"Ya, learned last summer, mother made Regulus and I." said Sirius, his voice was forced light.

"What form does it take?" asked James, a little disappointed that he couldn't produce one himself.

Sirius pointed his wand and focused on a happy memory; the first time he'd felt at home. "Expecto Patronum!" he yelled and out from the tip of his wand burst a large dog, it circled the room ounce and bound through the wall.

"Figures it would be a dog." said James

"why is that?" asked Lilly

"No reason." said James, Lilly glared at him but did not push.

"What about yours, Harry?" asked Remus, trying to diffuse the tension.

Like Sirius, Harry stood, focused on the happiest memory he had and silently thought to himself 'Expecto Patronum!' from the tip of his wand emerged, first the antlers and head and then the body of a massive Stag. Instead of galloping through the nearest wall, Harry made it stay and he watched as it majestically glided across the ground. Suddenly he was painfully reminded of Snape's doe and a he abruptly let go of the charm and sat down.

James was looking at Harry "Your patronus is the same as my..." he trailed off and glanced at Lilly, the gesture not going unnoticed.

"Yes it is." said Harry "Now lets get back to the book, were waisting time." well aware that time did not exist here.

Harry had been hesitant to produce a corporeal patronus in front of anyone besides Ginny, he was not sure if his patronus would still be the same as it ounce had.

**Dudley's hands jerked upward to cover his mouth. With his **

**parents' and Harry's eyes upon him, he slowly lowered them again **

**and asked, "There are . . . more of them?" **

"**More?" laughed Harry. "More than the two that attacked **

**us, you mean? Of course there are, there are hundreds, maybe **

**thousands by this time, seeing as they feed of fear and despair — " **

"**All right, all right," blustered Vernon Dursley. "You've made **

**your point—" **

"**I hope so," said Harry, "because once I'm seventeen, all **

**of them—Death Eaters, dementors, maybe even Inferi **

"How do you know about Inferi?" asked Sirius, now very wary, nobody should know about Inferi.

"They guarded the locket." said Harry, ounce again blank and emotionless.

"And... you had to fight them?" asked Sirius, astounded.

"Yes." said Harry

"What are Inferi?" asked Lilly, she was shocked that ounce again Sirius, of all people, had one uped her.

"They are dead wizards that are cursed to fight, they can not die." explained Sirius.

Lilly's eyes widened to the size of fists "And you had to... fight them?"

"Yes." said Harry, although it had not been him who had initially thrown of the attack. Lilly shuddered and Ron and Hermione looked at him, he had never mentioned what exactly had been in the lake and now that he had they weren't so sure they wanted to know.

— **which means dead bodies enchanted by a Dark Wizard— will be able **

**to find you and will certainly attack you. And if you remember **

**the last time you tried to outrun wizards, I think you'll agree you **

**need help." **

**There was a brief silence in which the distant echo of Hagrid **

**smashing something down a wooden front door seemed to reverberate through the intervening years.**

"Wait, what?" asked James

"When my letter was first sent, my uncle tried to stop them from reaching us. He moved us to a tiny shack in the middle of the sea. Hagird came to get me and the door was locked so he smashed it down." explained Harry. There was a pause and than laughter burst out.

"Hagrid is th e best!" said Sirius between peels of laughter.

**Aunt Petunia was looking **

**at Uncle Vernon; Dudley was staring at Harry. Finally Uncle Vernon blurted out, "But what about my work? What about Dudley's **

**school? I don't suppose those things matter to a bunch of layabout **

**wizards—" **

"**Don't you understand?" shouted Harry. "They will torture **

**and kill you like they did my parents! " **

It was just like when Lilly had read about Petunia, James had not comprehended what the words meant until after they were out.

"I thought you said that we were off on Voldemort business?" said James in a controlled calm voice, it was not himself that he was worried about, it was Lilly.

"I couldn't explain." said Harry, wishing that they would just understand.

"James, these are his memories, he has a right to withhold information." said Lilly, laying a hand on his arm.

He visibly relaxed at her touch. "None of this will happen." said Sirius in a strangled whisper.

"We have the power to change this, we have the power to change all of it."

The conversation went on but Harry wasn't listening, he was to busy reading the note that had discreetly appeared in his lap. Harry's insides screamed, anger poured out of him and he felt the conversation stop around him.

What everybody else saw had rendered them speechless. Harry had suddenly gone very stiff and then his eyes had gone from green to almost black. The air around him crackled with visible electricity. Harry did notice this, he couldn't think, he couldn't feel. The anger was burning at an impossible temperature.

Harry had gotten up to read the note and was now standing by the east wall. The only thing he could do was aim a punch at the wall. He hadn't meant to but the energy that had been crackling around him was transferred into the punch and as his knuckles collided with the solid stone wall the rock burst apart. Shelves and books were blown apart from the magical charge but Harry was untouched.

The rage died enough for Harry to comprehend his surrounding and he turned to the silent watchers. "What!?" he snapped, his voice wasn't the carefully controlled tone he'd perfected, it was wild and hateful. The heat in his voice literally caught the scattered books that were surrounding him on fire.

To Ron, Hermione, the Marauders and Lilly, Harry looked dangerous and uncontrolled. There was ruble and paraphernalia surrounding him. The dust and smoke in the air made his outline look hazy. The books that had caught fire was spreading a circle around Harry, creating a hell like feel.

Nobody answered Harry's question. Harry remembered Dumbeldore's words at one of their many private lessons; 'If you ever should lose control of your magic simply take a breath and focus. Feel your surroundings, center yourself and shut it down.' and so Harry did.

Harry's eyes were still black but they watched as he closed his eyes and took a breath. He raised both his arms in unison and exhaled, at the same time lowering his arms. As the elevation of his arms decreased so did the dust and the flames. It was as if in rewind; the dust and ruble flew back into the gaping whole in the wall. The shelves reattached themselves and the books, fire now out, flew back onto the shelf, un-singed and perfectly clean.

As Harry's arms came to a rest at his sides, his eyes opened, his normal shade of green. Harry had never let go of the note. He glanced at it again, suppressing the rage that built in him again, threatening to overflow.

Nobody dared to comment, Harry at first glance was not intimidating but what those who had never seen Harry in a rage before did not know was that he had unimaginable power, some of witch he did not even take responsibility for.

Harry sat down next to his mom. He tucked the note in his pocket.

Lilly had been watching Harry, he was her child and she was determined that she would not be afraid of her own son but he had power, so much that he couldn't control it all. As he sat down she was the only one to see him slip a note in his pocket. The writing was the same as the letters they had received before. The edge of the parchment caught on Harry's jeans at the last moment and Lilly saw it. Across the page was written 'they have to die.'

Lilly gave an involuntary gasp. Harry turned to her, despair was written all over his face and Lilly made a promise, she would make sure that she would die because Harry had to live.

Harry saw it in her eyes and he started to break down, slowly and not all at once but it was the beginning. He let his mask slip and what Lilly saw made her hug Harry to her chest; he was broken, he was dying, not from a wound but from his own pain.

James didn't know what to do, so he simply lay his hand on Lilly's shoulder and began to read.

"**Dad," said Dudley in a loud voice, "Dad— I'm going with these **

**Order people." **

"**Dudley," said Harry, "for the first time in your life, you're **

**talking sense." **

**He knew that the battle was won. If Dudley was frightened **

**enough to accept the Order's help, his parents would accompany**

**him: There could be no question of being separated from their **

**Duddykins.**

Sirius snorted but it was listless.

**Harry glanced at the carriage clock on the mantelpiece. **

"**They'll be here in about five minutes," he said, and when **

**none of the Dursleys replied, he left the room. The prospect of **

**parting—probably forever — from his aunt, uncle, and cousin was **

**one that he was able to contemplate quite cheerfully,**

Harry, who was now sitting with his mothers arm around his waist and his arm around her shoulder felt a squeeze and he squeezed back.

**but there was **

**nevertheless a certain awkwardness in the air. What did you say **

**to one another at the end of sixteen years' solid dislike?**

Sirius hated this, he promised himself that if he could he would brake out of Azcaban earlier so that he could take Harry away from these awful people sooner.

**Back in his bedroom, Harry fiddled aimlessly with his rucksack, **

**then poked a couple of nuts through the bars of Hedwig's cage. **

**They fell with dull thuds to the bottom, where she ignored them. **

"**We're leaving soon, really soon," Harry told her. "And then **

**you'll be able to fly again." **

Harry's insides clenched and his eyes stung.

**The doorbell rang. Harry hesitated, then headed back out of **

**his room and downstairs. It was too much to expect Hestia and **

**Dedalus to cope with the Dursleys on their own. **

"**Harry Potter!" squeaked an excited voice, the moment Harry **

**had opened the door, a small man in a mauve top hat was sweeping **

**him a deep bow. "An honor, as ever!" **

"**Thanks, Dedalus," said Harry, bestowing a small and embarrassed smile upon the dark-haired Hestia. "It's really good of **

**you to do this . . . They're through here, my aunt and uncle and **

**cousin . . . " **

"**Good day to you, Harry Potter's relatives!" said Dedalus happily, striding into the living room. The Dursleys did not look at all **

**happy to be addressed thus; Harry half expected another change **

**of mind. Dudley shrank nearer to his mother at the sight of the **

**witch and wizard. **

"**I see you are packed and ready. Excellent! The plan, as Harry **

**has told you, is a simple one," said Dedalus, pulling an immense **

**pocket watch out of his waistcoat and examining it. "We shall **

**be leaving before Harry does. Due to the danger of using magic **

**in your house — Harry being still underage, it could provide the **

**Ministry with an excuse to arrest him — we shall be driving, say, **

**ten miles or so, before Disapparating to the safe location we have **

**picked out for you. You know how to drive, I take it?" he asked **

**Uncle Vernon politely. **

"**Know how to — ? Of course I ruddy well know how to drive!" **

**spluttered Uncle Vernon. **

"**Very clever of you, sir, very clever. I personally would be **

**utterly bamboozled by all those buttons and knobs," said Dedalus. **

**He was clearly under the impression that he was flattering Vernon **

**Dursley, who was visibly losing confidence in the plan with every **

**word Dedalus spoke. **

"**Can't even drive," he muttered under his breath, his mustache rippling indignantly, but fortunately neither Dedalus or Hestia seemed to hear him. **

"**You, Harry," Dedalus continued, "will wait here for your **

**guard. **

"You need a guard." muttered James

**There has been a little change in the arrangements — " **

"**What d'you mean?" said Harry at once. "I thought Mad-Eye **

**was going to come and take me by Side-Along-Apparition?" **

"**Can't do it," said Hestia tersely. "Mad-Eye will explain." **

**The Dursleys, who had listened to all of this with looks of utter **

**incomprehension on their faces, jumped as a loud voice screeched, **

"**Hurry up! " Harry looked all around the room before realizing **

**that the voice had issued from Dedalus's pocket watch. **

"**Quite right, we're operating to a very tight schedule," said **

**Dedalus, nodding at his watch and tucking it back into his waistcoat. "We are attempting to time your departure from the house **

**with your family's Disapparition, Harry: thus, the charm breaks **

**as the moment you all head for safety." He turned to the Dursleys. **

"**Well, are we all packed and ready to go?" **

**None of them answered him. Uncle Vernon was still staring, **

**appalled, at the bulge in Dedalus's waistcoat pocket.**

Lilly glared at the giggling Sirius "For a fifth year student you are incurably immature." she said but behind her Remus and James were stiffing similar fits of laughter.

"**Perhaps we should wait outside in the hall, Dedalus," murmured Hestia. She clearly felt that it would be tactless for them **

**to remain in the room while Harry and the Dursleys exchanged **

**loving, possibly tearful farewells. **

"**There's no need," Harry muttered, but Uncle Vernon made **

**any further explanation unnecessary by saying loudly, **

"**Well, this is good-bye, then, boy." **

**He swung his right arm upward to shake Harry's hand, but at **

**the last moment seemed unable to face it, and merely closed his fist **

**and began swinging it backward and forward like a metronome. **

"**Ready, Diddy?" asked Aunt Petunia, fussily checking the clasp **

**of her handbag so as to avoid looking at Harry altogether. **

**Dudley did not answer, but stood there with his mouth slightly **

**ajar, reminding Harry a little of the giant, Grawp.**

"Who's Grawp?" asked Remus

Harry, Ron and Hermione shared a look. "He's our... friend." said Hermione, with a look of shear mirth on her face.

"Yes, our friend." said Ron, who was holding back a bought of giggles.

Sirius looked at the three and raised his eyebrows "What?" asked Harry, momentarily himself "He is." it was not a lie he thought.

"Okay...?" said Sirius, a look of suspicion still evident on his face.

"**Come along, then," said Uncle Vernon. **

**He had already reached the living room door when Dudley **

**mumbled, "I don't understand." **

"**What don't you understand, popkin?" asked Aunt Petunia, **

**looking up at her son. **

**Dudley raised a large, hamlike hand to point at Harry. **

"**Why isn't he coming with us?" **

**Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia froze where they stood, staring **

**at Dudley as though he had just expressed a desire to become a ballerina. **

"Terrible mental image, mate." said Ron, rubbing his eyes as if that would erase the thought from his mind.

"**What?" said Uncle Vernon loudly. **

"**Why isn't he coming too?" asked Dudley. **

"**Well, he— he doesn't want to," said Uncle Vernon, turning to **

**glare at Harry and asking, "You don't want to, do you?" **

"**Not in the slightest," said Harry. **

"**There you are," Uncle Vernon told Dudley. "Now come on, **

**we're off." **

**He marched out of the room. They heard the front door open, **

**but Dudley did not move and after a few faltering steps Aunt **

**Petunia stopped too. **

"**What now?" barked Uncle Vernon, reappearing in the doorway. **

**It seems that Dudley was struggling with concepts too difficult to put into words. After several moments of apparently painful **

**internal struggle he said, "But where's he going to go?" **

**Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon looked at each other. It was **

**clear that Dudley was frightening them. Hestia Jones broke the **

**silence. **

"**But . . . surely you know where your nephew is going?" she **

**asked, looking bewildered. **

"**Certainly we know," said Vernon Dursley. "He's off with some **

**of your lot, isn't he? Right, Dudley, let's get in the car, you heard **

**the man, we're in a hurry," **

**Again, Vernon Dursley marched as far as the front door, but **

**Dudley did not follow. **

"**Off with some of our lot?" **

"I don't think that your uncle know how to flatter a witch." said Sirius

"No, I don't think he does." said Harry dryly.

**Hestia looked outraged. Harry had met this attitude before. **

**Witches and wizards seems stunned that his closest living relatives **

**took so little interest in the famous Harry Potter. **

"Your famous?" asked Sirius, a touch of jealousy in his voice.

"Yes." said Harry, not really wanting to go there.

"What for?" asked Remus

"That, I'm sure, will be explained in the book." Harry answered, he had no desire to tell his fathers best friend that the reason he was famous was because James and Lilly had dies to protect him.

"**It's fine," Harry assured her. "It doesn't matter, honestly." **

"**Doesn't matter?" repeated Hestia, her voice rising ominously. **

"**Don't these people realize what you've been through?**

"No, actually we don't know." said James. Even though he wasn't sure how he felt about it, this was his soon and he wanted to learn what he had gone through.

"You will." said Harry, although most of it he didn't want them to know.

**What dangers you are in?**

"We do know about that." said Sirius.

**The unique position you hold in the hearts of the **

**anti-Voldemort movement?" **

"No we don't." said James

"Is that why your famous?" asked Remus

"Yes and no." said Harry. He only received rolled eyes, they were used to the constant, unanswered questions.

"**Er—no, they don't," said Harry. "They think I'm a waste of **

**space actually, but I'm used to — " **

"**I don't think you're a waste of space."**

Ron's eyebrows shot sky high, it wasn't that he wasn't glad that Dudley had come around but the likely hood of that seemed impossible.

**If Harry had not seen Dudley's lips move, he might not have **

**believed it. As it was, he stared at Dudley for several seconds **

**before accepting that it must have been his cousin who had spoken **

**for one thing, Dudley had turned red. Harry was embarrassed and **

**astonished himself. **

"**Well . . . er . . . thanks, Dudley." **

**Again, Dudley appeared to grapple with thoughts too unwieldy **

**for expression before mumbling, "You saved my life." **

"**Not really," said Harry. "It was your soul the dementor would **

**have taken . . . " **

**He looked curiously at his cousin. They had had virtually no **

**contact during this summer or last, as Harry had come back to **

**Privet Drive so briefly and kept to his room so much. It now **

**dawned on Harry, however, that the cup of cold tea on which he **

**had trodden that morning might not have been a booby trap at **

**all. **

"Told you, even he's not that stupid." said Lilly. James raised his eyebrows at the jab she had thrown at her nephew but she pointedly ignored him

**Although rather touched, he was nevertheless quite relieved **

**that Dudley appeared to have exhausted his ability to express his **

**feelings. After opening his mouth once or twice more, Dudley **

**subsided into scarlet-faced silence. **

**Aunt Petunia burst into tears. Hestia Jones gave her an approving look that changed to outrage as Aunt Petunia ran forward **

**and embraced Dudley rather than Harry.**

"That women is-" but James cut himself off at the look on Lilly's face

"Yes, I know." Lilly said curtley.

"**S–so sweet, Dudders . . . " she sobbed into his massive chest. **

"**S–such a lovely b–boy . . . s–saying thank you . . . " **

"But he didn't say thank you!" said Hermione's

"Ya, I know. It says the same thing." said James.

"**But he hasn't said thank you at all!" said Hestia indignantly. **

"**He only said he didn't think Harry was a waste of space!" **

"**Yeah, but coming from Dudley that's like 'I love you,'" said **

**Harry, torn between annoyance and a desire to laugh as Aunt Petunia continued to clutch at Dudley as if he had just saved Harry from **

**a burning building. **

"**Are we going or not?" roared Uncle Vernon, reappearing yet **

**again at the living room door. "I though we were on a tight schedule!" **

"**Yes —yes, we are," said Dedalus Diggle, who had been watching these exchanges with an air of bemusement and now seemed to **

**pull himself together. "We really must be off, Harry — " **

**He tripped forward and wrung Harry's hand with both of his **

**own. **

"—**good luck. I hope we meet again. The hopes of the Wizarding world rest upon your shoulders." **

"But no pressure Harry." said Sirius.

"Yes, no pressure." said James

Harry snorted, there had been so much pressure.

"**Oh," said Harry. "right. Thanks." **

"**Farewell, Harry," said Hestia, also clasping his hand. "Our **

**thoughts go with you." **

"**I hope everything is okay," said Harry with a glance toward **

**Aunt Petunia and Dudley. **

"**Oh, I'm sure we shall end up the best of chums,"**

"I seriously doubt that." said Ron with an air of bemusment.

**said Diggle **

**lightly, waving his hat as he left the room. Hestia followed him. **

**Dudley gently released himself from his mother's clutches and **

**walked toward Harry, who had to repress an urge to threaten him**

**with magic.**

"Did you have to do that a lot?" asked Sirius, again using the caring voice that Lilly was so unused to.

"I did." said Harry.

Lilly glared at the book, why did they have to die? Why did Sirius have to go to prison and die? Where was Remus?

**Then Dudley held out his large, pink hand. **

"**Blimey, Dudley," said Harry over Aunt Petunia's renewed sobs. **

"**did the dementors blow a different personality into you?" **

"**Dunno," muttered Dudley. "See you, Harry." **

"**Yeah . . . " said Harry, taking Dudley's hand and shaking it. **

"**Maybe. Take care, Big D." **

**Dudley nearly smiled, then lumbered from the room. Harry **

**heard his heavy footfalls on the graveled drive, and then a car **

**door slammed. **

**Aunt Petunia, whose face had been buried in her handkerchief, **

**looked around at the sound. She did not seem to have expected to **

**find herself alone with Harry. Hastily stowing her wet handkerchief **

**into her pocket, she said, "Well — good-bye," and marched toward **

**the door without looking at him. **

"**Good-bye," said Harry. **

**She stopped and looked back. For a moment Harry had the **

**strangest feeling that she wanted to say something to him. She **

**gave him an odd, tremulous look and seemed to teeter on the edge **

**of speech, but then, with a little jerk of her head, she bustled out **

**of the room after her husband and son.**

"And that," said James "Is the end of the chapter."

There wasn't much to say after that chapter and a very pregnant pause followed

"I'll read next." offered Remus, who was glad to end the silence.

_**As you might have noticed there were a few things that didn't make sense. Such as the fact that Lilly and James still have to die. Harry was afraid to show his patronus for a secret reason that I am dying to tell you all but I wont! Also he got a not**__**e**__** from our mysterious 'Keeper of Kings Cross' saying that the HP books were altered to conceal some of his more personal experiences.**_

**I EXPLAIN HERE:**

**1. James and Lilly still have to die because of they don't then the whole thing with the protection charm won't work and as we all know, thats a HUGE part of the books!**

_**2. Sorry **__**guys but if I tell you why Harry wouldn't show his patronus so much will be ruined!**_

**3. And last but certainly not least; why are the HP books going to change!? 0_o well I thought that Harry is famous, he's gone through so much, especially after Sirius dies, that he should have had some crazy experiences. These crazy experiences will be revealed BUT not until the time is right.**

**And thats all folks.**

_**Remember, I love all of your criticism BUT try to keep it constructive!**__**3**_


	4. Chapter 4: The Seven Potters

_(Remus is reading)_

**Chapter 4 **

**The Seven Potters **

"If I remember correctly, theres only one of you." said James

"Yeah, so how'd you get seven?" asked Sirius

"Well if the chapter is called 'The Seven Potters', then I'm sure we will find out." said Remus.

**Harry ran back upstairs to his bedroom, arriving at the **

**window just in time to see the Dursleys' car swinging **

**out of the drive and off and up the road. Dedalus's top **

**hat was visible between Aunt Petunia and Dudley in **

**the backseat. The car turned right at the end of Privet Drive, its **

**windows burned scarlet for a moment in the now setting sun, and **

**then it was gone. **

**Harry picked up Hedwig's cage, his Firebolt,**

"Is that a broom?" asked James

"Ya, best one at the moment." said Harry.

"Do you play Quidditch?" asked Sirius

"Ya."

"Are you any good?" asked James, he couldn't keep the hopefulness out of his voice.

Harry laughed, he really laughed. It was the first time he'd laughed sense the battle. A knot he hadn't even know was there loosened in his chest. "Youngest seeker in a century." said Harry, the gleeful look on James face made Harry feel like he could walk on air.

"Humph," said Sirius "Chaser is better." both James and Harry looked at each other and rolled their eyes.

**and his rucksack, **

**gave his unnaturally tidy bedroom one last sweeping look, and **

**then made his ungainly way back downstairs to the hall, where he **

**deposited cage, broomstick, and bag near the foot of the stairs. **

**The light was fading rapidly now, the hall full of shadows in the **

**evening light. It felt most strange to stand here in the silence **

**and know that he was about to leave the house for the last time. **

**Long ago, when he had been left alone while the Dursleys went **

**out to enjoy themselves, the hours of solitude had been a rare **

**treat:**

"Thats terrible." said Hermione. Lilly looked angry but she said nothing.

**Pausing only to sneak something tasty from the fridge, he **

**had rushed upstairs to play on Dudley's computer, or put on the**

**television and flicked through the channels to his heart's content. **

**It gave him an odd, empty feeling to remember those times; it was **

**like remembering a younger brother whom he had lost. **

"**Don't you want to take a last look at the place?" he asked Hedwig, who was still sulking, with her head under her wing. "We'll **

**never be here again. Don't you want to remember all the good **

**times?**

Ron looked at him oddly "Good times?"

**I mean, look at this doormat.**

"I think you loosing it mate, a doormat?" implored Ron

**What memories . . . Dudley **

**puked on it after I saved him from the dementors. . . .**

"I seriously hope your being sarcastic." said Ron, only half joking

"I don't know, that would be a happy memory for me." said Sirius.

"Iv always known you were in the same boat as Harry." said Ron

**Turns out **

**he was grateful after all, can you believe it? . . . And last summer, **

**Dumbledore walked through that front door. . . ." **

"Why would Dumbledore walk through your door?" asked Lilly

"Remember it said something about this in the last chapter to." added Remus.

"In the book." Harry sighed, his happy feeling deflating.

**Harry lost the thread of his thoughts for a moment and Hedwig **

**did nothing to help him retrieve it, but continued to sit with her **

**head under her wing. Harry turned his back on the front door. **

"**And under here, Hedwig" — Harry pulled open a door under **

**the stairs—**

Harry made a wild grab for the book. "Don't read that!" he said, desperately. This did nothing but heighten their interest and James continued to read.

"**is where I used to sleep; **

There was no sound, save for the banging of Harry's head against the table he had conjured to eat his lunch. And then "You slept were?" asked Ron, Harry had never heard him so angry, he reminded him of a lion.

"I'm going to kill Petunia." said Lilly, her deadly calm was worse then Ron's roar.

And it went on and on, Harry knew this would happen. After about five minutes; "GUYS!" he yelled "Really, it doesn't matter! I was moved into one of Dudley's spare rooms when I got back from Hogwarts my first year!" this hardly did anything and the dispute of weather or not it was okay with Lilly if they all went and cursed her sister and Lilly assured them that as long as there was no lasting harm she would help.

**never knew me then — **

**Blimey, it's small, I'd forgotten. . . ."**

This did nothing to help the mood.

**Harry looked around at the stacked shoes and umbrellas, remembering how he used to wake every morning looking up at the **

**underside of the staircase, which was more often than not adorned **

**with a spider or two.**

Ron had a horrified look on his face and mumbled something like "Bloody evil children of Arogog." Harry looked at him and couldn't help but snicker at Ron's maniac exspression.

**Those had been the days before he had known **

**anything about his true identity;**

"They didn't tell you?" asked James, who had been raised in a magical family and couldn't comprehend not knowing what he was.

"No, they didn't." said Harry.

**before he had found out how **

**his parents had died **

"How could Petunia have not told you?" asked Lilly, imagining what it would have been like if Snape hadn't told her what she was. Harry didn't bother to answer, telling his mother that her own sister hated him because he was related to her didn't seem like the best idea.

**or why such strange things often happened **

**around him. But Harry could still remember the dreams that had **

**dogged him, even in those days: confused dreams involving flashes **

**of green light**

"You had those dreams even at eleven?" asked Hermione, she assumed that these dreams were earlier glimpses into Voldemort's mind.

"It wouldn't have been possible, Hermione. He wasn't..." Harry trailed off, unsure of how to explain what Voldemort had been "alive."

"Oh." said Hermione.

"Who wasn't alive?" asked Remus

"The book." said Ron and Remus rolled his eyes.

**and once — Uncle Vernon had nearly crashed the car **

**when Harry had recounted it — a flying motorbike . . .**

"Thats mine!" said Sirius, startling them all.

"What if its not, Sirius." said Remus

"Actually, it is." said Hermione

"Hah!" said Sirius triumphantly.

**There was a sudden, deafening roar from somewhere nearby. **

**Harry straightened up with a jerk and smacked the top of his head **

**on the low door frame. Pausing only to employ a few of Uncle **

**Vernon's choicest swear words,**

"You shouldn't swear, Harry." said Lilly

"Okay Lil-" but Harry was cut off when Sirius punched him in the shoulder "Bloody wanker! What was that for?"

Sirius simply laughed "You swore!" gasped Sirius. Harry punched Sirius in the leg but Sirius dutifully kept his mouth closed.

"You two are just as bad as Sirius and James." said an exasperated Lilly

"Thats because he is James!" said Sirius, Harry didn't show it but he suddenly wanted to give Sirius a massive hug. Lilly, on the other hand, was not appeased.

**he staggered back into the kitchen, **

**clutching his head and staring out of the window into the back **

**garden. **

**The darkness seemed to be rippling, the air itself quivering. **

**Then, one by one, figures began to pop into sight as their Disillusionment Charms lifted. Dominating the scene was Hagrid, **

**wearing a helmet and goggles and sitting astride an enormous motorbike**

"MINE!" Yelled Sirius, gaining many eye-rolls but Harry grinned, it was nice to see his godfather so happy.

**with a black sidecar attached. All around him other people **

**were dismounting from brooms and, in two cases, skeletal, black **

**winged horses. **

** "**Are those Thestrals?" asked Sirius. He liked Thestrals but he didn't like that Harry could see them.

"They are, you can see them?" asked Harry, he never knew that Sirius could see them when he was so young.

"Ya, I can." he was looking at the ground and Harry knew that he didn't want to explain how and he understood.

"Can you seen them Harry?" Lilly asked, but she already knew the answer. Harry nodded. "Who?" she asked.

"It's complicated." said Harry

"How is it complicated?" asked Remus.

Harry avoided everybody's eyes, he had only recently figured this out himself. "I saw mum and dad die at two."

"You saw us die?" asked James

"Yes, but I still couldn't see them." said Harry "It wasn't until after my fourth year that I could see them."

"That doesn't make sense." said Hermione "If you saw someone die then you should automatically be able to see them."

"Thats why I looked it up." said Harry. "when your mind can't comprehend what your seeing it'll force you to forget. My mind forced me to forget and I didn't completely remember until seventh year and by then I could already see them."

Both Hermione, Lilly and Remus looked thoughtful. "It does make sense." admitted Hermione.

"But who else did you see die?" asked Lilly, determined to know.

"I don't think that it's really important." said Harry

"Just tell her, son." said James, Harry looked at him. James looked just as surprised as Harry felt that he had just called him 'son'.

Somehow the fact that his father had subconsciously accepted that he was his son pushed Harry to say what he had avoided. "I don't know."

"How can you not know?" asked Remus

"I cant count them all." said Harry, regretting that he had relented into telling the truth.

"You cant count them all?" asked Lilly, she looked so sad, she couldn't comprehend even seeing one person die.

"How many," Sirius paused, as if he was contemplating is he should ask or not "How many have you killed?"

"None." Ron answered for him, who was thinking that Harry hadn't technically hadn't killed Voldemort, Voldemort's own curse had rebounded. Harry looked away, that wasn't true. Ron caught his look and grimaced "How many?" he asked.

Harry wondered if the book would recount the people he had killed or if this was another place in the book 'The Keeper of Kings Cross' had altered as well. "I don't know."

"You killed someone?" asked Lilly, she wasn't afraid, she was sad.

"You didn't tell us." said Hermione. Harry was drawn to her quiet tone more than his mothers frantic one. "You killed someone and you didn't tell us. What else have you done?" she asked accusingly.

Harry couldn't help it, his mind ran through everything he'd done in the last month, everything he should have told his best friends, but they weren't friends anymore. He knew he looked guilty.

Ron looked from between Hermione to Harry. Harry looked so sad and guilty and Ron realized something had always been between them, Harry had always kept things to himself.

Harry suddenly made up his mind, he stood.

Everyone had been watching the exchange quietly, all intruding on something, but not knowing what. They all watched Harry with wide eyes as he stood.

Harry was suddenly angry, they always had to push him, they could wait, they didn't have to know. Harry sat down. He wanted Ginny, she knew, she would understand.

**Wrenching open the back door, Harry hurtled into their midst. **

**There was a general cry of greeting as Hermione flung her arms **

**around him, Ron clapped him on the back,**

The awkwardness in the room was tangible. The Marauders looked from one to another, thats how they were, what had made the trio grow apart so much that 1/3 of their group was no longer there friend?

**and Hagrid said, "All **

**righ', Harry? Ready fer the off?" **

"**Definitely," said Harry, beaming around at them all. "But I **

**wasn't expecting this many of you!" **

"**Change of plan," growled Mad-Eye, who was holding two enormous, bulging sacks, and whose magical eye was spinning from **

**darkening sky to house to garden with dizzying rapidity.**

"He doesn't have that eye yet." said James, Alaster was two years ahead of them.

"No he doesn't." said Remus

"I'm not sure when he gets it." said Hermione.

"**Let's **

**get undercover before we talk you through it." **

**Harry led them all back into the kitchen where, laughing and **

**chattering, they settled on chairs, sat themselves upon Aunt Petunia's gleaming work surfaces, or leaned up against her spotless **

**appliances: Ron, long and lanky;**

Ron blushed and looked moody, glancing at Hermione to see if she'd noticed.

**Hermione, her bushy hair**

Hermione looked annoyed, her cheeks the same colors as Rons.

**Tied back in a long plait; Fred and George, grinning identically; Bill, **

**badly scarred**

"Why is he badley scarred?" asked Remus

Ron looked angry again "Fenrir Greyback."

Remus looked pale "He's not...?"

"No, it wasn't the full moon. Now he just likes his steaks rare." Ron assured

**and long-haired; Mr. Weasley, kind-faced, balding, **

**his spectacles a little awry; Mad-Eye, battle-worn, one-legged, his **

**bright blue magical eye whizzing in its socket;**

"He really is worse for ware." said Sirius.

"I'm gonna have to agree with you there, mate." said James

**Tonks,**

Sirius nudged Remus in the ribs, raising his eyebrows suggestively.

**whose short **

**hair was her favorite shade of bright pink; Lupin, grayer, more **

**lined;**

"I'm old, thats so weird." said Remus

**Fleur, slender and beautiful, with her long silvery blond**

**hair; Kingsley, taller and broad-shouldered; Hagrid, with his wild **

**hair and beard, standing hunchbacked to avoid hitting his head on **

**the ceiling; and Mundungus Fletcher, small, dirty, and hangdog, **

**with his droopy bloodhound's eyes and matted hair. Harry's heart **

**seemed to expand and glow at the sight: He felt incredibly fond of **

**all of them, even Mundungus, whom he had tried to strangle the **

**last time they had met.**

"I understand hating dung, he's a year below us, but why would you try to strangle him?" asked Sirius

"He nicked some of your stuff after you died." said Harry, he still hated dung, after all it was his fault Mad-Eye was dead. But we can change that, Harry reminded himself.

"**Kingsley, I thought you were looking after the Muggle Prime **

**Minister?" he called across the room. **

"**He can get along without me for one night," said Kingsley. **

"**You're more important." **

"Wow you really are famous!" said James

"It wasn't because he was famous that he was more important." Hermione said, half defensively, half mater-of-factually.

"Well then why?" asked Sirius "Kingsley isn't exactly the affectionate type, he wouldn't let the fact he cared for Harry get in the way of his job."

Harry nodded, that was true. "The book will explain."

"I really hate that answer." said Sirius

"**Harry, guess what?" said Tonks from her perch on top of the **

**washing machine, and she wiggled her left hand at him; a ring **

**glittered there. **

"**You got married?" Harry yelped, looking from her to Lupin. **

"**I'm sorry you couldn't be there, Harry, it was very quiet." **

"**That's brilliant, congrat — " **

"**All right, all right, we'll have time for a cozy catch-up later," **

**roared Moody over the hubbub, and silence fell in the kitchen. **

**Moody dropped his sacks at his feet and turned to Harry, "As **

**Daedalus probably told you, we had to abandon Plan A. Pius Thickness has gone over, which gives us a big problem. He's made it **

**an imprisonable offense to connect this house to the Floo Network, **

**place a Portkey here, or Apparate in or out. All done in the name **

**of your protection to prevent You-Know-Who getting in at you. **

**Absolutely pointless, seeing as your mother's charm does that already.**

"I know you wont tell us, but I wonder what the charm is." said Remus and Lilly nodded, she wanted to know what she had done.

**What he's really done is to stop you from getting out of **

**here safely. **

"**Second problem. You're underage, which means you've still **

**got the Trace on you." **

"**I don't—" **

"**The Trace, the Trace!" **

**said Mad-Eye impatiently. **

"**The charm that detects magical activity around under-seventeens, the **

**way the Ministry finds out out about underage magic! If you, or **

**anyone around you, casts a spell to get you out of here, Thickness**

**is going to know about it, and so will the Death Eaters. **

"**We can't wait for the Trace to break, because the moment you **

**turn seventeen you'll lose all the protection your mother gave you. **

**In short: Pius Thickness thinks he's got you cornered good and **

**proper." **

**Harry could not help but agree with the unknown Thickness. **

"**So what are we going to do?" **

"**We're going to use the only means of transport left to us, the **

**only ones the Trace can't detect, because we don't need to cast **

**spells to use them: brooms, thestrals, and Hagrid's motorbike." **

**Harry could see flaws in this plan; however, he held his tongue **

**to give Mad-Eye the chance to address them. **

"Seems you got some of your mother in you." said Remus, good naturally

"**Now, your mother's charm will only break under two conditions: when you come of age, or" — Moody gestured around the **

**pristine kitchen— "you no longer call this place home. You and **

**your aunt and uncle are going your separate ways tonight, in the **

**full understanding that you're never going to live together again, **

**correct?" **

**Harry nodded. **

"**So this time, when you leave, there'll be no going back, and **

**the charm will break the moment you get outside its range. We've **

**choosing to break it early, because the alternative is waiting for**

**You-Know-Who to come and seize you the moment you turn seventeen. **

"**The one thing we've got on our side is that You-Know-who **

**doesn't know we're moving you tonight. We've leaked a fake trail **

**to the Ministry: They think you're not leaving until the thirtieth. **

**However, this is You-Know-Who we're dealing with, so we can't **

**just rely on him getting the date wrong; he's bound to have a **

**couple Death Eaters patrolling the skies in this general area, just **

**in case. So we've given a dozen different houses every protection **

**we can throw at them. They all look like they could be the place **

**we're going to hide you, they've all got some connection with the **

**Order: my house, Kingsley's place, Molly auntie Muriel's — you get **

**the idea." **

"**Yeah," said Harry, not entirely truthfully, because he could **

**still spot a gaping hole in the plan. **

"**You'll be going to Tonks's parents. Once you're within the **

**boundaries of the protective enchantments we've put on their house **

**you'll be able to use a Portkey to the Burrow. Any questions?" **

"**Er—yes," said Harry. "Maybe they won't know which of the **

**twelve secure houses I'm heading for at first, but won't it be sort **

**of obvious once" — he performed a quick headcount — "fourteen of **

**us fly off towards Tonks's parents' ?" **

"**Ah," said Moody. "I forgot to mention the key point. Fourteen **

**of us won't be flying to Tonks's parents. There will be seven Harry **

**Potters moving through the skies tonight, each of them with a **

**companion, each pair heading for a different safe house."**

"I still don't get how this is possible." said James

"Me either." said Sirius

**From inside his cloak Moody now withdrew a flask of what **

**looked like mud.**

** "**Oh!" said Lilly and Remus. James and Sirius still looked just as confused.

**There was no need for him to say another word; **

**Harry understood the rest of the plan immediately.**

"Hmm." said Remus, the only reason Lilly and himself knew about Polyjuice potion was because Slughorn had given Lilly an advanced book of potions and she had shared it with him. Why would Harry know about it, they shouldn't have learned it until the end of seventh year.

"**No!" he said loudly, his voice ringing through the kitchen. **

"**No way!"**

"Why is mud such a big deal?" asked Sirius

"Because it wasn't mud." said Hermione

"Well then, what was it?" asked James

Remus pocked James in the ribs with the book "It will explain." he said.

"**I told them you'd take it like this," said Hermione with a hint **

**of complacency. **

"**If you think I'm going to let six people risk their lives — !" **

"—**because it's the first time for all of us," said Ron.**

"How many times?" asked Lilly, the worry evident in her face.

"Let it suffice to say; a lot." said Ron

"**This is different, pretending to be me — " **

"**Well, none of us really fancy it, Harry," said Fred earnestly. **

"**Imagine if something went wrong and we were stuck as specky, **

**scrawny gits forever."**

There was a spout of laughter but it didn't last long because the Harry sitting in front of them was small but he wasn't scrawny. Over the many months of being on the run Harry had gained some muscle and to his great pleasure, it was noticeable.

**Harry did not smile. **

"**You can't do it if I don't cooperate, you need me to give you **

**some hair." **

"Oh, I get it now." said James, annoyed that it had taken him so long to understand in the first place.

"How do you know what it is?" asked Lilly, a little surprised.

"You know Evans, I'm not as clueless as you seem to think." said James.

"Prongs," said Sirius, a look of mock seriousness on his face "you are as dumb as I act." the group laughed.

"Padfoot," retorted James, an identical look of solemness was expertly plastered on his face "we all know that its not an act." this was met with many more laughs, Remus the loudest of them all.

"Come off it," said Remus between fits of laughter "we all know that you both are in training to become Auror's."

"You are?" asked Lilly, true surprise on her face. She had been convinced that these two boys were to thick to tie their own shoelaces.

"The tone of surprise once again." said James, secretly glad that Lilly had been so impressed.

"And we thought you were smart enough to see past our little charade." said Sirius.

Lilly grumbled something that sounded suspiciously like "good for nothing, pompous git." there was more laughing.

"**Well, that's that plan scuppered," said George. "Obviously **

**there's no chance at all of us getting a bit of your hair unless you **

**cooperate." **

"**Yeah, thirteen of us against one bloke who's not allowed to use **

**magic: we've got no chance," said Fred.**

"They cant use magic around Harry." said Remus.

"**Funny," said Harry, "really amusing." **

"**If it has to come to force, then it will," growled Moody, his **

**magical eye now quivering a little in its socket as he glared at **

**Harry. **

"**Everyone here's overage, Potter, and they're all prepared to **

**take the risk." **

**Mundungus shrugged and grimaced;**

Ron was glaring at the book and Hermione was looking sad, they were all thinking the same thing; it would have been better if Mundungus had never came.

**the magical eye swerved **

**sideways to glare at him out of the side of Moody's head.**

"He can see through his head?" asked Sirius, a note of appraising disgust in his voice.

"Yes. He can see through walls and Invisibility Cloaks as well." said Harry

"I wonder if he can see through clothes?" said Sirius, slyly.

"Sirius!" said Lilly, obviously affronted

"Not yours Lilly, Padfoot over here would kill me." Sirius said mockingly

"I would." said James. Lilly blushed but continued to glare at Sirius. James had obviously won a point because Lilly's hand was now in James'. Harry smiled a sad smile, this would have been what it was like if his parents hadn't died. This would have been what it was like if his godfather hadn't died. Now he was stuck and Hogwarts, taking his seventh year over again so he could become an Auror and hunt down every last death eater that had escaped, save the Malfoy's.

"**Let's have no more arguments. Time's wearing on. I want a **

**few of your hairs, boy, now." **

"**But this is mad, there's no need— " **

"**No need!" snarled Moody, "With You-Know-Who out there **

**and half the Ministry on his side? Potter, if we're lucky he'll have **

**swallowed the fake bait and he'll be planning to ambush you on **

**the thirtieth,**

"Somehow, I doubt that." said James dryly

"Unfortunately, mate, iv got to agree with you." said Sirius

**but he'd be mad not to have a Death Eater or two **

**keeping an eye out, it's what I'd do. They might not be able to **

**get at you or this house while your mother's charm holds, but it's **

**about to break and they know the rough position of the place. **

**Our only chance is to use decoys. Even You-Know-Who can't split **

**himself into seven." **

**Harry caught Hermione's eye and looked away at once.**

"What!? Can he?" asked Lilly

"In the book." said Ron, just as annoyed at the answer as everyone else.

"**So, Potter— some of your hair, if you please." **

**Harry glanced at Ron, who grimaced at him in a just-do-it sort **

**of way. **

"Great friend you are." said Sirius but Ron did not smile. Ron was still angry at Harry, he supposed he always would be.

"**Now!" barked Moody. **

**With all of their eyes on him, Harry reached up to the top of **

**his head, grabbed a hank of hair, and pulled. **

"**Good," said Moody, limping forward as he pulled the stopper **

**out of the flask of potion. "Straight in here, if you please." **

**Harry dropped the hair into the mud like liquid. The moment **

**it made contact with its surface, the potion began to froth and **

**smoke, then, all at once, it turned a clear, bright gold.**

"Wow!" said Remus, amazed "Iv never seen someones turn gold before!"

"Why does it matter?" asked Harry, knowing that his wasn't gold anymore.

"The closer to gold the potion is, the purer the persons soul is. There are only about three reports of this happening sense the creation of the potion." Remus explained. This got quiet a few raised eyebrows. "Except in small children who haven't lived long enough for their souls to be tainted."

Harry looked cross. His potion wasn't gold anymore, it was a gold green, reminding him severely of the Slytherin House colors. At least his potion wasn't an ugly green, it was a clear, bright color and the gold was still very gold, but he was not so pure as he had been.

"Do you have to be a virgin for the color to be gold?" asked Sirius mischievously.

"No you don't, it has nothing to do with that. A persons soul is pure because he is a good person, etc." said Remus

"I wonder what mine would look like." said Sirius

"Black." said James, a smirk playing across his lips

"Id be okay with that." said Sirius

"I don't think you would." said Lilly

"The color of the potion reflects who you are and you are not black." said Remus

"Actually I am Black, Sirius Black." said Sirius, Lilly and Remus rolled their eyes.

"**Ooh, you look much tastier than Crabbe and Goyle, Harry,"**

Ron looked at her and she blushed, "You know what I mean!"

"Before you ask question, wait until the end of this paragraph." said Remus, they nodded.

**said Hermione, before catching sight of Ron's raised eyebrows, **

**blushing slightly, and saying, "Oh, you now what I mean — Goyle's **

**potion looked like bogies." **

"Why would you know what Goyle's potion looked like?" asked Remus, signaling the end of the delegated 'silent' paragraph.

"Second year, we brewed a Polyjuice potion so that we could get into the Slytherin common room." explained Ron, he looked at Hermione and snickered, she turned bright red.

"And it worked!?" asked Lilly, who was very good at potions herself but even in fifth year she would be wary about making a polyjuice potion.

"Ya, worked perfectly." said Ron

"Why did you want to get into the Slytherin common room?" asked James

"That will-" Hermione was interrupted by Sirius

"Let me guess. 'That will be explained in the book.'" he said and we all nodded.

"**Right then, fake Potters line up over here, please." **

**said Moody. **

**Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, and Fleur lined up in front of **

**Aunt Petunia's gleaming sink. **

"**We're one short," said Lupin. **

"**Here," said Hagrid gruffly, and he lifted Mundungus by the **

**scruff of the neck and dropped him down beside Fleur, who wrinkled her nose pointedly and moved along to stand between Fred and George instead.**

"I see were she's coming from." said Sirius, who had more than a few less-than-pleasant experiences involving Dung.

"**I've told yer, I'd sooner be a protector," said Mundungus. **

"**Shut it," growled Moody. "As I've already told you, you spineless worm, any Death Eaters we run into will be aiming to capture Potter, not kill him. Dumbledore always said You-Know-who **

**would want to finish Potter in person.**

"Thats terrible!" said Lilly

"Actually, its worked to my advantage all these year." said Harry, Remus raised his eyebrows but otherwise the subject was dropped.

**It'll be the protectors who have got the most to worry about, the Death Eaters'll want to kill them." Mundungus did not look particularly reassured, but Moody was **

**already pulling half a dozen eggcup-sized glasses from inside his **

**cloak, which he handed out, before pouring a little Polyjuice Potion **

**into each one. **

"**Altogether, then . . . " **

**Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, Fleur, and Mundungus drank. All of them gasped and grimaced as the potion hit their throats.**

"Is it really that bad?" asked James

"Polyjuice isn't that different from the potion you have to drink to become an Animagus." Harry whispered to James

James looked at him "Are you?"

"No." said Harry "I took the first potion that showed me what I would become."

"Were you a Stag to?" asked James in a low whisper

"No." said Harry, his look was dark and he soon turned away from his father.

"To answer your question," said Hermione, looking suspiciously at Harry as he turned away from James "The potion is different for every person that you are trying to become but it always tastes bad."

"Harry's potion didn't taste nearly as bad as Crabbe but he still tasted like Goblin piss." said Ron with a grimace

"Pleasant." said Sirius sarcastically "and how would you know what Goblin piss tastes like?"

Ron blushed "Potions accident." he mumbled

**At once, their features began to bubble and distort like hot wax.**

"That must hurt." said Remus, thinking it probably felt rather like turning into a Werewolf.

"It does." said Harry "I don't recommend it."

**Hermione and Mundungus were shooting upward; Ron, Fred, and **

**George were shrinking; their hair was darkening, Hermione's and **

**Fleur's appearing to shoot backward into their skulls.**

"Wicked!" said Sirius

"Lets see what you say if we do it to you." said Lily

"Oh," said Sirius flippantly "I do it on a regular basis."

James gave him a warning glare but Lily simply rolled her eyes, assuming he was being sarcastic.

**Moody, quite unconcerned, was now loosening the ties of the **

**large sacks he had brought with him. When he straightened up **

**again, there were six Harry Potters gasping and panting in front **

**of him. **

"That must have been weird to see, mate." said Sirius

"It was." said Harry with a smile at the reminder of better times.

**Fred and George turned to each other and said together, **

"**Wow—we're identical!" **

Sirius and James looked at each other and then back at Harry "Their twins right?" Harry nodded "Thats brilliant!" they shouted in unison. The occupants in the room rolled there eyes and chuckled.

"**I dunno, though. I think I'm still better looking," said Fred, **

**examining his reflection in the kettle.**

"We should be identical." said Sirius

"Hmmm." said James

"Although we'd have to look like me." said Sirius. James huffed.

"Theres nothing wring with me!" James replied indignantly

"I don't know, mate." said Remus, giving him a once over "i mean, look at you!"

James looked down at himself in mock horror "I think you fine." said Lily

"Only fine!?" asked James indignantly

Sirius and Remus broke down into uncontrollable laughs. Lily rolled her eyes "Oi, shut it you two!" she said, lacing her hand through James'.

James grinned at Lily's gesture and maturely stuck out his tong at his two best friends who were currently busy trying to stifle their snickering.

"**Bah," said Fleur, checking herself in the microwave door, "Bill, **

**don't look at me — I'm 'ideous." **

"Thats nice of her." said James, a look of dislike on his face.

"She's really not that bad." said Ron who cowered under the glare Hermione gave him.

Harry did his best to cover his chuckle but it got out and Hermione's glare turned to him but Harry simply rolled his eyes.

"**Those whose clothes are a bit roomy, I've got smaller here," **

**said Moody, indicating the first sack, "and vice versa. Don't forget **

**the glasses, there's six pairs in the side pocket. And when you're **

**dressed, there's luggage in the other sack." **

**The real Harry thought this might just be the most bizarre thing **

**he had ever seen, and he had seen some extremely odd things. He **

**watched as his six doppelgangers rummaged in the sacks, pulling **

**out sets of clothes, putting on glasses, and stuffing their own things **

**away. He felt like asking them to show a little more respect for his **

**privacy as they all began stripping off with impunity, clearly more **

**at ease with displaying his body than they would have with their **

**own.**

"It's not like the care." said Sirius

"You would say that." said Remus with a huff.

"Ya, remind me, how many girls have you slept with this week?" asked James

"Umm." said Sirius counting on his fingers

"And what about this year?" continued James

Sirius didn't even bother to count and simply shrugged

"I don't think theres a person in this school who hasn't seen you naked." said James

Sirius didn't bother to look abashed and simply shrugged "Especially after that little seen that got you suspended last year." said Remus

"What seen?" asked Lilly

"That is not for you to know." said Sirius

Lily turned to James for an answer but shook his head, Sirius, as much as they teased each other, was practically his brother and James would not tell. Lily scowled but she understood.

Harry had been laughing, Sirius had told him about this incident during one of his visits to Number 12.

"**I knew Ginny was lying about that that tattoo," said Ron, **

**looking down at his bare chest.**

"Who's Ginny?" asked Sirius, his eyebrows raised suggestively, just like with Remus.

"My sister." Ron said dejectedly

"That sucks mate." said Sirius

"Yes it does." said Ron with a scowl equal to that of Hermione's when she learned they hadn't done their homework.

"**Harry, your eyesight really is awful," said Hermione, as she **

**put on glasses.**

"Thats why I wear glasses, Hermione." Harry said.

**Once dressed, the fake Harry's took rucksacks and owl cages, **

**each containing a stuffed snowy owl, from the second sack. **

"**Good," said Moody, as at last the seven dressed, bespectacled, **

**and luggage-laden Harrys faced him. "The pairs will be as follows: **

**Mundungus will be traveling with me, by broom — " **

"**Why'm I with you?" grunted the Harry nearest the back door. **

"**Because you're the one that needs watching," growled Moody, **

**and sure enough, his magical eye did not waver from Mundungus **

**as he continued. "Arthur and Fred — " **

"**I'm George," said the twin at whom Moody was pointing, **

"**Can't you even tell us apart when we're Harry?" **

"**Sorry, George — " **

"**I'm only yanking your wand. I'm Fred really — "**

Again Sirius and James looked at each other and shouted simultaneously "Brilliant!"

"**Enough messing around!" snarled Moody. "The other one — **

**George or Fred or whoever you are — you're with Remus. Miss **

**Delacour—" **

"**I'm taking Fleur on a thestral," said Bill. "She's not that fond **

**of brooms." **

**Fleur walked over to stand beside him, giving him a soppy, **

**slavish look that Harry hoped with all his heart would never appear **

**on his face again.**

"Oh it has." said Ron, disgustedly "sixth year, with Ginny."

"Thats ruff, mate." said Sirius, in a faux understanding voice

"**Miss Granger with Kingsley, again by thestral— " **

**Hermione looked reassured as she answered Kingsley's smile; **

**Harry knew that Hermione too lacked confidence on a broomstick.**

Hermione glared at him but it was weak, she knew it was true.

"**Which leaves you and me, Ron!" said Tonks brightly, knocking **

**over a mug tree as she waved at him.**

Sirius snorted, it was so like his little cousin.

**Ron did not look quite as pleased as Hermione. **

"**An' you're with me, Harry. That all right?" said Hagrid, **

**looking a little anxious. "We'll be on the bike, brooms an' thestrals **

**can't take me weight, see. Not a lot o' room on the seat with me **

**on it, though, so you'll be in the sidecar." **

"**That's great," said Harry, not altogether truthfully. **

"**We think the Death Eaters will expect you to be on a broom," **

**said Moody, who seemed to guess how Harry was feeling. "Snape's**

James opened his mouth but quickly shut it at the looks he was receiving from both is future wife and son.

**had plenty of time to tell them everything about you he's never **

**mentioned before, so if we do run into any Death Eaters, we're **

**betting they'll choose one of the Potters who look at home on a **

**broomstick. All right then," he went on, tying up the sack with the **

**fake Potters' clothes in it and leading the way back to the door, **

"**I make it three minutes until we're supposed to leave. No point **

**locking the back door, it won't keep the Death Eaters out when **

**they come looking. Come on . . . " **

**Harry hurried to gather his rucksack, Firebolt, and Hedwig's **

**cage and followed the ground to the dark back garden. **

**On every side broomsticks were leaping into hands. Hermione **

**had already been helped up onto a great black thestral by Kingsley, **

**Fleur onto the other by Bill. Hagrid was standing ready beside the **

**motorbike, goggles on. **

"**Is this it? Is this Sirius's bike?" **

"**The very same," said Hagrid, beaming down at Harry. "An' **

**the last time yeh was on it, Harry, I could fit yeh in one hand!" **

**Harry could not help but feel a little humiliated as he got into **

**the sidecar. It placed him several feet below everybody else: Ron **

**smirked at the sight of him sitting there like a child in a bumper **

**car.**

"It was pretty funny mate." said Ron but Harry only huffed.

**Harry stuffed his rucksack and broomstick down by his feet **

**and rammed Hedwig's cage between his knees. It was extremely **

**uncomfortable. **

"**Arthur's done a bit o' tinkerin'," **

"Of course he did." grumbled Ron, more than a little sick of his fathers obsession with Muggle things.

**said Hagrid, quite oblivious **

**to Harry's discomfort. He settled himself astride the motorcycle, **

**which creaked slightly and sank inches into the ground. "It's got **

**a few tricks up its hindquarters**

Sirius grimaced and James stuck out his tong.

**now. Tha' one was my idea." **

**He pointed a thick finger at a purple button near the speedometer. **

"**Please be careful, Hagrid," said Mr. Weasley, who was standing beside them, holding his broomstick. "I'm still not sure this was advisable and it's certainly only to be used in emergencies." **

"**All right then," said Moody. "Everyone ready, please. I want us all to leave at exactly the same time or the whole point of the diversion's lost."**

**Everybody mounted their brooms. **

"**Hold tight now, Ron," said Tonks, and Harry saw Ron throw a furtive, guilty look at Lupin**

"No offense mate but I don't think your much competition against this bloke." said Sirius with a grave look. Ron blushed but rolled his eyes.

**before placing his hands on either side of her waist. Hagrid kicked the motorbike into life. It roared like a dragon, and the sidecar began to vibrate. **

"**Good luck, everyone," shouted Moody, "See you all in about an hour at the Burrow. **

**On the count of three. **

**One . . . two . . . THREE." **

**There was a great roar from the motorbike, and Harry felt the **

**sidecar give a nasty lurch. He was rising through the air fast, his **

**eyes water slightly, hair whipped back off his face. Around him **

**brooms were soaring upward too, the long black tail of a threstral **

**flicked past. His legs, jammed into the sidecar by Hedwig's cage **

**and his rucksack, were already sore and starting to go numb. So **

**great was his discomfort that he almost forgot to take a last glimpse **

**of number four, Privet Drive, by the time he looked over the edge **

**of the sidecar he could no longer tell which one it was. Higher and **

**higher they climbed into the sky — **

**And then, out of nowhere, out of nothing, they were surrounded. **

**At least thirty hooded figures, suspended in midair, formed a **

**vast circle in the midst of which the Order members had risen, **

**oblivious — **

**Screams, a blaze of green light on every side: Hagrid gave a yell **

**and the motorbike rolled over. Harry lost any sense of where they **

**were. Streetlights above him, yells around him, he was clinging **

**to the sidecar for dear life. Hedwig's cage, the Firebolt, and his **

**rucksack slipped from beneath his knees. **

"**No—HEDWIG!" **

**The broomstick spun to earth,**

"Darn." said James

"James!" said Lily "There are more important things than Quidditch." James looked doubtful but nodded his head.

**but he just managed to seize the strap of his rucksack and the top of the cage as the motorbike swung the right way up again. A seconds relief, and then another **

**burst of green light. The owl screeched and fell to the floor of the **

**cage. **

Harry felt the pain all over again, only slightly dulled. Hermione laid a hand on his arm, he stiffened but did not push her off.

"**No—NO!" **

**The motorbike zoomed forward; Harry glimpsed hooded Death **

**Eaters scattering as Hagrid blasted through their circle. **

"**Hedwig— Hedwig — " **

**But the owl lay motionless and pathetic as a toy on the floor of **

**her cage. He could not take it in, and his terror for the others **

**was paramount. He glanced over his shoulder and saw a mass of **

**people moving, flares of green light, two pairs of people on brooms **

**soaring off into the distance, but he could not tell who they were — **

"**Hagrid, we've got to go back, we've got to go back!" he yelled **

**over the thunderous roar of the engine, pulling out his wand, ramming Hedwig's cage into the floor, refusing to believe that she was **

**dead. "Hagrid, TURN AROUND!" **

"**My job's ter get you there safe, Harry!" bellowed Hagrid, and **

**he opened the throttle. **

"**Stop—STOP!" Harry shouted, but he looked back again as **

**two jets of green light flew past his left year: Four Death Eaters **

**had broken away from the circle and were pursuing them, aiming **

**for Hagrid's broad back. Hagrid swerved but the Death Eaters **

**were keeping up with the bike, more curses shot after them, and **

**Harry had to sink low into the sidecar to avoid them. Wriggling **

**around he cried, "Stupefy!" and a red bolt of light shot from his **

**own wand, cleaving a gap between the four pursuing Death Eaters **

**as they scattered to avoid it. **

"**Hold on, Harry, this'll do it for 'em!" roared Hagrid, and Harry **

**looked up just in time to see Hagrid slamming a thick finger into **

**a green button near the fuel gauge. **

**A wall, a solid brick wall, erupted out of the exhaust pipe. **

"Wicked!" Sirius breathed, almost reverently.

**Craning his neck, Harry saw it expand into being in midair. Three **

**of the Death Eaters swerved and avoided it, but the fourth was not **

**so lucky; He vanished from view and then dropped like a boulder **

**from behind it, his broomstick broken into pieces. One of his fellows slowed up to save him, but they and the airborne wall were **

**swallowed by darkness as Hagrid leaned low over the handlebars **

**and sped up. **

**More Killing Curses flew past Harry's head from the two remaining Death Eaters' wands; they were aiming for Hagrid. Harry responded with further Stunning Spells: Red and green collided in midair in a shower of multicolored sparks, and Harry thought **

**wildly of fireworks, and the Muggles below who would have no idea **

**what was happening — **

"I don't think I would really care what the Muggles were thinking at a time like that." said Remus

"Yes, well, you'll learn Harry has a knack for thinking of strange things." said Ron dryly.

"**Here we go again, Harry, hold on!" yelled Hagrid, and he **

**jabbed at a second button. This time a great net burst from the **

**bike's exhaust, but the Death Eaters were ready for it. Not only did **

**they swerve to avoid it, but the companion who had slowed to save **

**their unconscious friend had caught up. He bloomed suddenly out **

**of the darkness and now three of them were pursuing the motorbike, **

**all shooting curses after it. **

"**This'll do it, Harry, hold on tight!" yelled Hagrid, and Harry **

**saw him slam his whole hand onto the purple button beside the **

**speedometer. **

**With an unmistakable bellowing roar, dragon fire burst from **

**the exhaust, white-hot and blue,**

"My bike is AWESOME!" yelled Sirius, his mood was contagious and Harry suddenly felt a surge of happiness, he was here with his loved ones and he couldn't get out of all the sadness he had pent up in him.

**and the motorbike shot forward **

**like a bullet with a sound of wrenching metal. Harry saw the Death **

**Eaters swerve out of sight to avoid the deadly trail of flame, and **

**at the same time felt the sidecar sway ominously: Its metal connections to the bike had splintered with the force of acceleration. **

"**It's all righ', Harry!" bellowed Hagrid, now thrown flat onto **

**his back by the surge of speed; nobody was steering now, and the **

**sidecar was starting to twist violently in the bike's slipstream. **

"**I'm on it, Harry, don' worry!" Hagrid yelled, and from inside **

**his jacket pocket he pulled his flowery pink umbrella. "Hagrid! No! **

**Let me!" **

"Yes, Hagrid, just let Harry do it." pleaded Lily.

"**REPARO!"**

There was a resigned sigh.

**There was a deafening bang and the sidecar broke away from **

**the bike completely. Harry sped forward, propelled by the impetus **

**of the bike's flight, then the sidecar began to lose height — **

**In desperation Harry pointed his wand at the sidecar and **

**shouted "Wingardium Leviosa!" **

**The sidecar rose like a cork, unsteerable but at least still airborne. He had but a split seconds relief, however, as more curses streaked past him: The three Death Eaters were closing in. "I'm comin', Harry!" Hagrid yelled from out of the darkness, **

**but Harry could feel the sidecar beginning to sink again: Crouching **

**as low as he could, he pointed at the middle of the oncoming figures **

**and yelled, "Impedimenta! " **

**The jinx hit the middle Death Eater in the chest; For a moment **

**the man was absurdly spread-eagled in midair as though he had hit **

**an invisible barrier: One of his fellows almost collided with him — **

**Then the sidecar began to fall in earnest, and the remaining **

**Death Eater shot a curse so close to Harry that he had to duck **

**below the rim of the car, knocking out a tooth on the edge of his **

**seat— **

"Damn, thats got to hurt!" said Sirius

"It, did." said Harry, thinking to himself how that was nothing compared everything else he'd experienced.

"**I'm comin', Harry, I'm comin' !" **

**A huge hand seized the back of Harry's robes and hoisted him **

**out of the plummeting sidecar; Harry pulled his rucksack with him **

**as he dragged himself onto the motorbike's seat and found himself **

**back-to-back with Hagrid. As they soared upward, away from the **

**two remaining Death Eaters, Harry spat blood out of his mouth, **

**pointed his wand at the falling sidecar, and yelled, "Confringo! " **

**He knew a dreadful, gut-wrenching pang for Hedwig as it exploded; the Death Eater nearest it was blasted off his broom and **

**fell from sight; his companion fell back and vanished. **

"**Harry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," moaned Hagrid, "I shouldn'ta **

**tried ter repair it myself — yeh've got no room — " **

"**It's not a problem, just keep flying!" Harry shouted back, **

**as two more Death Eaters emerged out of the darkness, drawing **

**closer. **

**As the curses came shooting across the intervening space again, **

**Hagrid swerved and zigzagged. Harry knew that Hagrid did not **

**dare use the dragon-fire button again, with Harry seated so insecurely. Harry sent Stunning Spell after Stunning Spell back at **

**their pursuers, barely holding them off. He shot another blocking **

**jinx at them: The closest Death Eater swerved to avoid it and **

**his hood slipped, and by the red light of his next Stunning Spell, **

**Harry saw the strangely blank face of Stanley Shunpike — Stan— **

"**Expelliarmus! " Harry yelled. **

"**That's him, it's him, it's the real one!" **

"How did they know?" asked Remus

"Book." Ron said

**The hooded Death Eater's shout reached Harry even above the **

**thunder of the motorbike's engine. Next moment, both pursuers **

**had fallen back and disappeared from view. **

"**Harry, what's happened?" bellowed Hagrid, "Where've they **

**gone?" **

"**I don't know!" **

**But Harry was afraid: The hooded Death Eater had shouted **

"**It's the real one!"; how had he known? He gazed around at the **

**apparently empty darkness and felt its menace. Where were they? **

**He clamored around on the seat to face forward and seized hold **

**of the back of Hagrid's jacket. **

"**Hagrid, do the dragon-fire thing again, let's get out of here!" **

"**Hold on tight, then, Harry!" **

**There was a deafening, screeching roar again and the white-blue **

**fire shot from the exhaust: Harry felt himself slipping backward off**

**what little of the seat he had, Hagrid flung backward upon him, **

**barely maintaining his grip on the handlebars — **

"**I think we've lost 'em Harry, I think we've done it!" yelled **

**Hagrid. **

**But Harry was not convinced;**

"Trust your instinct." said James. Tension was rampant throughout the room as they sat rapt.

**Fear lapped at him as he looked **

**left and right for pursuers he was sure would come. . . . Why had they **

**fallen back? One of them had still had a wand. . . . It's him . . . it's **

**the real one. . . . They had said it right after he had tried to Disarm **

**Stan. . . . **

"**We're nearly there, Harry, we've nearly made it!" shouted **

**Hagrid. **

**Harry felt the bike drop a little, though the lights down on the **

**ground still seemed remote as stars. **

**Then the scar on his forehead burned like fire:**

Lilly looked at him sharply but Harry shook his head.

**as a Death Eater **

**appeared on either side of the bike, two Killing Curses missed Harry **

**by millimeters, cast from behind — **

**And then Harry saw him. Voldemort was flying like smoke on **

**the wind, without broomstick or thestral to hold him,**

"Thats not fare! He can fly!" Sirius complained. It was such a Sirius thing to say that there was nothing to do but ignore it.

**his snake-like face gleaming out of the blackness, his white fingers raising his **

**wand again— **

**Hagrid let out a bellow of fear and steered the motorbike into a **

**vertical dive. Clinging on for dear life, Harry sent Stunning Spells **

**flying at random into the whirling night. He saw a body fly past **

**him and knew he had hit one of them, but he heard a bang and **

**saw sparks from the engine; the motorbike spiraled through the **

**air, completely out of control — **

**Green jets of light shot past them again. Harry had no idea **

**which way was up, which down: His scar was still burning; **

"Why-" began James but a look from Lily made him shut his mouth.

**he expected to die at any second. A hooded figure on a broomstick **

**was feet from him, he saw it raise its arm — **

"**NO!" **

**With a shout of fury Hagrid launched himself off the bike**

"Oh no, Hagrid." said Lily, sure he was dead

**at the Death Eater; to his horror, Harry saw both Hagrid and the Death **

**Eater falling out of sight, their combined weight too much for the **

**broomstick— **

"I hope Hagrid's alright." said Lilly, Remus nodded.

**Barely gripping the plummeting bike with his knees, Harry **

**heard Voldemort scream, "Mine!"**

Sirius looked grim, why did Voldemort want his godson so desperately? What had Harry done that had angered the Dark Lord himself?

**It was over: He could not see or hear where Voldemort was; he **

**glimpsed another Death Eater swooping out of the way and heard, **

"**Avada — " **

**As the pain from Harry's scar forced his eyes shut,**

"Whats happening?" asked James, ignoring Lily's warning look

"I cant explain," said Harry "but the book will soon."

**his wand acted of its own accord. He felt it drag his hand around like some **

**great magnet, saw a spurt of golden fire through his half-closed **

**eyelids, heard a crack and a scream of fury.**

"I'm sorry I didn't believe you." said Hermione sheepishly

"Ya, mate. I should know by now that everything is possible with you." said Ron. Harry nodded and let it drop, he had no desire to discuss this with them.

**The remaining Death Eater yelled; Voldemort screamed, "No! "; Somehow, Harry found **

**his nose an inch from the dragon-fire button. He punched it with **

**his wand-free hand and the bike shot more flames into the air, **

**hurtling straight toward the ground. **

"**Hagrid!" Harry called, holding on to the bike for dear life. **

"**Hagrid— Accio Hagrid! "**

"You can't do that with a living object, it'll only drag you to it." said Remus

**The motorbike sped up, sucked towards the earth. Face level **

**with the handlebars, Harry could see nothing but distant lights **

**growing nearer and nearer. He was going to crash and there was **

**nothing he could do about it. Behind him came another scream, **

"**Your wand, Selwyn, give me your wand!" **

**He felt Voldemort before he saw him. Looking sideways, he **

**stared into the red eyes and was sure they would be the last thing **

**he ever saw: Voldemort preparing to curse him once more —**

"It wont be." said Lilly but her voice was strained. James placed a reassuring arm around her shoulders.

**And then Voldemort vanished.**

"What?" asked Lily, now thoroughly confused.

**Harry looked down and saw Hagrid spread-eagled on the ground below him. He pulled hard at the handlebars to avoid hitting him, groped for the brake, but with **

**an earsplitting, ground trembling crash, he smashed into a muddy pond.**

"And thats the end of the chapter." said James

"I hope Hagrid's alright." said Lilly

"He'll be fine, Lilly. He's Hagrid, he's invincible." said James. Harry noticed that they were still holding hands and it made him smile.

"I'll read next." Remus offered and he took the book that James passed to him. And he began to read.


	5. Chapter 5: The Fallen Warrior

**Chapter 5 **

**Fallen Warrior **

"Does that mean Hagrid?" asked Lilly

"I'm sorry but you just have to wait." said Harry, wishing he could tell her everything right then. She nodded.

"**Hagrid?" **

**Harry struggled to raise himself out of the debris of **

**metal and leather that surrounded him: his hands sank **

**into inches of muddy water as he tried to stand. He **

**could not understand where Voldemort had gone and expected him **

**to swoop out of the darkness at any moment. Something hot and **

**wet was trickling down his chin and from his forehead. He crawled **

**out of the pond and stumbled toward the great dark mass on the **

**ground that was Hagrid. **

"**Hagrid? Hagrid. Talk to me — " **

**But the dark mass did not stir.**

"Oh, know." Lilly said, she was convinced that Hagrid was dead but she still prayed that he wasn't.

"**Who's there? Is it Potter? Are you Harry Potter?" **

**Harry did not recognize the man's voice. **

**Then a woman **

**shouted, "They've crashed, Ted! Crashed in the garden!" **

"Your at Nymphadora's house." said Sirius and in answer to the questioning looks he said "Shes one of the only family members I actually like, so I visited a lot."

**Harry's head was swimming. **

"**Hagrid." he repeated stupidly, and his knees buckled. **

**The next thing he knew, he was lying on his back on what felt **

**like cushions, with a burning sensation in his ribs and right arm. **

**His missing tooth had been regrown. The scar on his forehead was **

**still throbbing.**

"What does that mean?" asked Remus, who was extremely interested in the scar, it clearly was not a normal one.

"When I wa- I mean am close to Voldemort or he is feeling a strong emotion that my scar hurts." explained Harry, he was afraid that this might be to much information and they would find out about the connection.

"Thats never happened before." said Remus

"Yes, well, Harry's situation has never happened before and probably never will again." Said Ron

That gained a few confused looks "What do you it has and never will happen again?" asked James

"Look, I really want to tell you but I cant!" said Harry the frustration was showing through.

"Why can't you tell us?" asked Sirius, just as annoyed.

"Its the time travel, if we don't do it just so than everything could go wrong!" Harry said

"How do you know, we have the experience of two seventh year students and the warning of someone we don't even know!" Sirius yelled.

Harry looked down quickly but James caught it "You know who sent these?" he asked

All eyes were now on Harry. He felt most of all Ron and Hermione disappointed glare. He knew what they were thinking; that they used to share everything, if it had been a year ago they would have know as soon as Harry had but now it was different. "Yes, but I really think that you should find out in the book, it'll make more sense." said Harry

"Harry," he knew that look in Hermione's eyes but he looked away. She tried to lay a comforting hand on his shoulder but he pulled away, he could tell she was hurt but he didn't care "You want to change the future, right?" how could she even ask that, of course he did but he did not answer "I know that you want everybody to live-" Harry flinched here, everybody would not live because his parents still have to die. "-then you have to tell us everything you know." Hermione's voice was still gentle and he knew that the rest of the room agreed.

Harry flung himself backwards, onto the cushioned floor and stayed there. "Dumbledore , Dumbledore sent them." said Harry, although it came out barely loud enough for them to hear.

Silence fell for a moment but Harry knew it wouldn't last "Harry, Dumbledore is dead." said Hermione, he could hear the maddening 'you only believe this because you want it to happen' voice that he had used the first time he had told her about his wand acting of its own accord.

"Next time," Harry said, his voice wasn't understanding but razor blade sharp "If you ask what I know and I tell you, don't tell me that I'm not right."

Hermione looked taken aback for a moment. Ron was glaring at him but Harry didn't care, they were always doing this; doubting him and then he was always right.

"Say that your right," said Hermione, wiping the hurt expression off her face "how would he do it?"

She was only entertaining the idea because she didn't want him to get angry and Harry knew that. Harry turned and looked at her, his eyes were full of dislike, which startled her "you should know this, Hermione, aren't you the know It all?" asked Harry, he knew he was being mean but he hated it when they treated him like a child. The hurt was now obvious on her face and Ron put a protective arm around her, while glaring reproachfully at Harry. Harry rolled his eyes "Portraits, Hermione, they have the same ability to interact with whatever they are painted with as they would be if they were in the flesh."

Hermione still looked doubtful "Yes, Harry, your right but It still doesn't explain-" Harry cut her off.

"Dumbledore was painted with a wand. I was transported here through a portkey made out of a phoenix feather." said Harry, who was loosing his patience

"Yes, that makes sense," said Remus "All three of you arrived out of flames." he explained.

Hermione nodded. "Ok but still, the 'Keeper of Kings Cross' could be anyone."

"No they couldn't." said Harry

"What do you mean they couldn't?" asked Ron

"It will explain in the book." said Harry and Ron opened his mouth to disagree "No, Ron, I won't tell you." Ron shut his mouth and looked angry.

"**Hagrid?" **

**He opened his eyes and saw that he was lying on a sofa in an **

**unfamiliar, lamplit sitting room. His rucksack lay on the floor a **

**short distance away, wet and muddy. A fair-haired, big-bellied **

**man was watching Harry anxiously. **

"**Hagrid's fine, son,"**

Lilly, for a second, looked releived and then "But if it wasn't Hagrid, who was it?" she asked but no one answered

**said the man, "the wife's seeing to him **

**now. How are you feeling? Anything else broken? I've fixed your **

**ribs, your tooth, and your arm. I'm Ted, by the way, Ted Tonks — **

**Dora's father." **

**Harry sat up too quickly: Lights popped in front of his eyes and **

**he felt sick and giddy. **

"**Voldemort — " **

"**Easy, now," said Ted Tonks, placing a hand on Harry's shoulder and pushing him back against the cushions. "That was a nasty **

**crash you just had. What happened, anyway? Something go wrong **

**with the bike? Arthur Weasley overstretch himself again, him and **

**his Muggle contraptions?" **

"**No," said Harry, as his scar pulsed like an open wound. "Death **

**Eaters, loads of them — we were chased — " **

"**Death eaters?" said Ted sharply. "What d'you mean, Death **

**Eaters? I thought they didn't know you were being moved tonight, **

**I thought—" **

"**They knew," said Harry. **

**Ted Tonks looked up at the ceiling as though he could see **

**through to the sky above. **

**Well, we know our protective charms hold, then, don't we? **

**They shouldn't be able to get within a hundred yards of the place **

**in any direction." **

**Now Harry understood why Voldemort had vanished: it had **

**been at the point when the motorbike crossed the barrier of the **

**Order's charms. He only hoped they would continue to work: He **

**imagined Voldemort, a hundred yards above them as they spoke, **

**looking for a way to penetrate what Harry visualized as a great **

**transparent bubble. **

**He swung his legs off the sofa; he needed to see Hagrid with **

**his own eyes before he would believe that he was alive. He had **

**barely stood up, however, when a door opened and Hagrid squeezed **

**through it, his face covered in mud and blood, limping a little but **

**miraculously alive. **

"**Harry!" Knocking over two delicate tables and an aspidistra, **

**he covered the floor between them in two strides and pulled Harry **

**into a hug that nearly cracked his newly repaired ribs. "Blimey, **

**Harry, how did yeh get out o' that? I thought we were both goners." **

"**Yeah, me too. I can't believe — " **

**Harry broke off. He had just noticed the woman who had en- **

**tered the room behind Hagrid. **

"**You!" he shouted, and he thrust his hand into his pocket, but **

**it was empty. **

"She doesn't like it when you do that." said Sirius, who had guessed what Harry had thought he'd seen.

"Yes, I know." said Harry

"What?" asked James

"Andromeda looks a lot like Bellatrix." said Sirius

"Oh, well how come you reacted so badly to her?" asked James

"That will be explained in the book." said Harry, much to the annoyance of the others.

"**Your wand's here, son," said Ted, tapping it on Harry's arm. **

"**It fell tight beside you, I picked it up. And that's my wife you're **

**shouting at." **

"**Oh, I'm — I'm sorry." **

**As shed moved forward into the room, Mrs. Tonks's resemblance to her sister Bellatrix became much less pronounced. Her **

**hair was a light, soft brown and her eyes were wider and kinder. **

**Nevertheless, she looked a little haughty after Harry's exclamation.**

"**What happened to our daughter?" she asked. "Hagrid said **

**you were ambushed; where is Nymphadora?" **

"**I don't know," said Harry. "We don't know what happened to **

**anyone else." **

**She and Ted exchanged looks. A mixture of fear and guilt **

**gripped Harry at the sight of their expressions;**

"It wasn't your fault Harry." assured Hermione's but Harry knew that it had been, it all had been.

**if any of the other **

**had died, it was his fault, all his fault. He had consented to the **

**plan, given them his hair. . . . **

"You couldn't have stopped us anyways." said Ron but that didn't make Harry feel anybetter.

"**The Portkey," he said, remembering all of a sudden. "We've **

**got to get back to the Burrow and find out — then we'll be able to **

**send word, or— or Tonks will, once she's — " **

"**Dora'll be okay, 'Dromeda," said Ted. "She knows her stuff, **

**she's been in plenty of tight spots with the Aurors. The Portkey's **

**through here," he added to Harry. "It's supposed to leave in three **

**minutes, if you want to take it." **

"**Yeah, we do," said Harry. He seized his rucksack, swung it **

**onto his shoulders. "I — " **

**He looked at Mrs. Tonks, wanting to apologize for the state of **

**fear in which he left her and for which eh felt so terribly responsible, but no words occurred to him that did not seem hollow and **

**insincere. **

"**I'll tell Tonks — Dora — to send word, when she . . . Thanks for **

**patching us up, thanks for everything. I — " **

**He was glad to leave the room and follow Ted Tonks along **

**a short hallway and into a bedroom. Hagrid came after them, **

**bending low to avoid hitting his head on the door lintel. **

"**There you go, son. That's the Portkey." **

**Mr. Tonks was pointing to a small, silver-backed hairbrush **

**lying on the dressing table. **

"**Thanks," said Harry, reaching out to place a finger on it, ready **

**to leave. **

"**Wait a moment," said Hagrid, looking around. "Harry, where's **

**Hedwig?" **

"**She . . . she got hit," said Harry. **

**The realization crashed over him: He felt ashamed of himself as **

**the tears stung his eyes. The owl had been his companion, his one **

**great link with the magical world whenever he had been forced to **

**return to the Dursleys. **

**Hagrid reached out a great hand and patted him painfully on **

**the shoulder. **

"**Never mind," he said gruffly. "Never mind. She had a great **

**old life—" **

"**Hagrid!" said Ted Tonks warningly, as the hairbrush glowed **

**bright blue, and Hagrid only just got his forefinger to it in time. **

**With a jerk behind the navel as though an invisible hook and **

**line had dragged him forward, Harry was pulled into nothingness, **

**spinning uncontrollably, his finger glued to the Portkey as he and **

**Hagrid hurtled away from Mr. Tonks. Seconds later Harry's feet **

**slammed into hard ground and he fell onto his hands and knees **

**in the yard of the Burrow. He heard screams. Throwing aside **

**the no longer glowing hairbrush, Harry stood up, swaying slightly, **

**and saw Mrs. Weasley and Ginny running down the steps by the **

**back door as Hagrid, who had also collapsed on landing, clambered **

**laboriously to his feet. **

"**Harry? You are the real Harry? What happened? Where are **

**the others?" cried Mrs. Weasley. **

"**What d'you mean? Isn't anyone else back?" Harry panted. **

**The answer was clearly etched in Mrs. Weasley's pale face. **

"**The Death Eaters were waiting for us," Harry told her. "We **

**were surrounded the moment we took off — they knew it was **

**tonight—I don't know what happened to anyone else, four of them **

**chased us, it was all we could do to get away, and then Voldemort **

**caught up with us — " **

**He could hear the self-justifying note in his voice, the pleas for **

**her to understand why he did not know what had happened to her **

**sons, but— **

"We did it of our own free will and there wasn't anything you could do ti stop us." said Ron

"I have to agree with Ron, mate." said James. Harry ignored them, he felt no less guilty.

"**Thank goodness you're all right," she said, pulling him into a **

**hug he did not feel he deserved. **

"**Haven't go' any brandy, have yeh, Molly?" asked Hagrid a **

**little shakily. "Fer medicinal purposes?" **

"Sure Hagrid," said Sirius, "Medicinal purposes." James and Sirius rolled their eyes

**She could have summoned it by magic, but as she hurried back **

**towards the crooked house, Harry knew that she wanted to hide **

**her face. He turned to Ginny and she answered his unspoken plea **

**for information at once. **

"**Ron and Tonks should have been back first, but they missed **

**their Portkey, it came back without them." she said, pointing at **

**a rusty oil can lying on the ground nearby. "And that one," she **

**pointed at an ancient sneaker, "should have been Dad and Fred's, **

**they were supposed to be second. You and Hagrid were third and," **

**she checked her watch, "if they made it, George and Lupin ought **

**to be back in about a minute." **

**Mrs. Weasley reappeared carrying a bottle of brandy, which **

**she handed to Hagrid. He uncorked it and drank it straight down **

**in one. **

"I think that next time we get a bottle of Firewhiskey that we should go and share with Hagrid." said James

"Were do you get Firewhiskey?" asked Lilly, glaring at James, who smilled sheepishly in return.

Sirius was about to answer but Harry beat him to it "There are three places." said Harry

"Three, I only know of the one." said Sirius, obviously impressed

"Theres the Hogs Head, but you have to pay a fat price for that." said Harry

"Thats the one we use." said Remus

"Your in on this as well, Remus?" asked Lilly, astonished, she always thought that he was the one to sit out of these types if things.

Sirius and James laughed "He's usually the instigater." said James. Lilly was seeing the trio in a whole new light, first Sirius and James had a sweat side and them Remus turned out to be the one to break all the rules.

"Ok, well, what are the other ones." asked Remus, who was laughing at the baffled expression on Lilly's face

"Then theres the kitchen." said Harry

"Well we tried that." said Sirius

"You have to say that Madam Pomfrey sent you to fetch it to sterilize some cuts or you can have one of your own elves working in the kitchens." explained Harry, who, after the Battle of Hogwarts had become very apt at drinking Firewhiskey.

"Well you are definitely your fathers son." said Sirius.

Harry grinned, an honest-to-god grin "And the last place?" asked James had smiled as well, although not quiet as enthusiastically as Harry had.

Harry grinned again and concentrated. He imagined a bottle appearing out of thin air. There was a small 'pop' and a bottle of liquid the color of mahogany appeared in the center of the small circle. "Wicked." Sirius breathed.

"How come we never thought of that?" asked James.

"Actually, I did." said Remus

"Then how come we never used it?" asked James

"I assumed that the same rules applied here as in the Great Hall, that alcohol would be turned to water." explained Remus

"The Room of Requirement isn't part of the magic that sustains the rest of the castle, almost none of the enchantments extend to this room." explained Harry. It actually hadn't been Harry who had discovered the rooms ability to produce alcohol, it had been Ginny. They had been laying on the bed that the room had conjured for them and Harry hadn't talked in hours. He had been in one of his worse states of PTSD. Ginny had tried to everything; talking, kissing, and simply nothing but all Harry wanted to do was to forget. And so she had simply wished that she had something to make him temporarily forget and the bottle had appeared on the pillows above there heads.

"hmmm... I wonder why that is." said Lilly

Both Ron and Hermione were looking at him as if the had never seen him before. Harry had always been reckless but they had never thought he would care enough to find so many places to get alcohol.

Lilly grabbed the bottle and for a split second Harry thought that she was going to drink it but instead she placed it on the shelf near the back of the room and gestured at Remus to read.

"**Mum!" shouted Ginny, pointing to a spot several feet away. **

**A blue light had appeared in the darkness; It grew larger **

**and brighter, and Lupin and George appeared, spinning and then**

**falling. Harry knew immediately that there was something wrong: **

Ron looked down sadly and Hermione laid her head on his shoulder. Harry didn't know what to do. "Is he the 'fallen warrior'?" asked James. Ron shook his head but continued to look sad.

**Lupin was supporting George, who was unconscious and whose face **

**was covered in blood. **

**Harry ran forward and seized George's legs. Together, he and **

**Lupin carried George into the house and through the kitchen to the **

**sitting room, where they laid him on the sofa. As the lamplight fell **

**across George's head, Ginny gasped and Harry's stomach lurched; **

**One of George's ears was missing.**

** "**Oh my gosh!" Lilly gasped. "Is he alright?"

"He turns out alright." said Ron, though he still looked sad.

**The side of his head and neck **

**was drenched in wet, shockingly scarlet blood. **

**No sooner had Mrs. Weasley bent over her son than Lupin **

**grabbed Harry by the upper arm and dragged him, none too gently, **

**back into the kitchen, where Hagrid was still attempting to ease **

**his bulk through the back door.**

"Why did you do that?!" asked James, he was surprised and confused.

"It says." replied Remus, who had also been confused at first.

"**Oi!" said Hagrid indignantly. "Le' go of him! Le' go of Harry!" **

**Lupin ignored him. **

"**What creature sat in the corner the first time that Harry Potter **

**visited my office at Hogwarts?" he said, giving Harry a small shake. **

"**Answer me!"**

"Oh, I get it." said James and Lilly nodded but Sirius still looked confused.

"**A—a grindylow in a tank, wasn't it?" **

**Lupin released Harry and fell back against a kitchen cupboard. **

"**Wha' was that' about?" roared Hagrid. **

"**I'm sorry Harry, but I had to check" said Lupin tersely. "We've **

**been betrayed.**

"Oh, now I get it." said Sirius.

**Voldemort knew that you were being moved tonight **

**and the only people who could have told him were directly involved **

**in the plan. You might have been an impostor." **

"**So why aren' you checkin' me?" panted Hagrid, still struggling **

**with the door. **

"**You're half-giant," said Lupin, looking up at Hagrid. "The **

**Polyjuice Potion is designed for human use only."**

"**None of the Order would have told Voldemort we were moving **

**tonight," said Harry. The idea was dreadful to him, he could not **

**believe it of any of them. "Voldemort only caught up with me **

**toward the end, he didn't know which one I was in the beginning. **

**If he'd been in on the plan he'd have known from the start I was **

**the one with Hagrid." **

"**Voldemort caught up with you?" said Lupin sharply. "What **

**happened? How did you escape?" **

**Harry explained briefly how the Death Eaters pursuing them **

**had seemed to recognize him as the true Harry, how they had abandoned the chase, how they must have summoned Voldemort, who **

**had appeared just before he and Hagrid had reached the sanctuary **

**of Tonks's parents. **

"**They recognized you? But how? What had you done?" **

"**I . . . " Harry tried to remember; the whole journey seemed like **

**a blur of panic and confusion. "I saw Stan Shunpike. . . . You know, **

**the bloke who was the conductor on the Knight Bus? And I tried **

**to Disarm him instead of— well, he doesn't know what he's doing, **

**does he? He must be Imperiused!" **

**Lupin looked aghast. **

"**Harry, the time for Disarming is past! These people are trying **

**to capture and kill you! At least Stun if you aren't prepared to **

**kill!" **

"**We were hundreds of feet up! Stan's not himself and if I **

**stunned him and he'd fallen, he'd have died the same as if I'd **

**used Avada Kedavra! Expelliarmus saved me from Voldemort two **

**years ago," **

"It did?" asked Remus

"Yes, during Triwizard Tournament." explained Harry

"What did you use it against?" asked Sirius

"Voldemort." Harry repleid.

"You stopped Voldemort with Expelliarmus?" exclaimed James

"How?" asked Lilly

"It explains-" started Harry

"-in the book, we know." sighed Sirius

**Harry added defiantly. Lupin was reminding him of **

**the sneering Hufflepuff, Zacharias Smith, who had jeered at Harry **

**for wanting to teach Dumbledore's Army how to Disarm. **

"Dumbledore's Army?" asked Lilly

"In our fifth year the Ministry appointed a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher," explained Ron "she wouldn't let us use magic and we learned from first year text books. So Harry secretly taught a group of people in the Room of Requirement how to defend ourselves."

"How did she expect you to learn?" asked Remus

"That was the point. The Minister of Magic thought that Dumbledore was creating a secret army to overthrow him." said Hermione

"Thats all we can say." said Harry, cutting off the rest of the questions.

"**Yes, Harry," said Lupin with painful restraint, "and a great **

**number of Death Eaters witnessed that happening! Forgive me, **

**but it was a very unusual move then, under imminent threat of **

**death. Repeating it tonight in front of Death Eaters who either **

**witnessed or heard about the first occasion was close to suicidal!" **

"**So you think I should have killed Stan Shunpike?" said Harry **

**angrily. **

"**Of course not," said Lupin, "but the Death Eaters — frankly, **

**most people!— would have expected you to attack back! Expelliarmus is a useful spell, Harry, but the Death Eaters seem to think it **

**is your signature move, and I urge you not to let it become so!"**

"My future self is being harsh but I'm right, a signature move is dangerous." said Remus and Harry nodded, he knew he was right.

**Lupin was making Harry feel idiotic, and yet there was still a **

**grain of defiance inside him.**

"Of course there was." sighed Hermione's

"**I won't blast people out of my way just because they're there." **

**said Harry. "That's Voldemort's job." **

James was nodding and Harry felt a swell of happiness.

**Lupin's retort was last; Finally succeeding in squeezing through **

**the door, Hagrid staggered to a chair and sat down: it collapsed **

**beneath him. Ignoring his mingled oaths and apologies, Harry **

**addressed Lupin again. **

"**Will George be okay?" **

**All Lupin's frustration with Harry seemed to drain away at the **

**question. **

"**I think so, although there's no chance of replacing his ear, not **

**when it's been cursed off — **

"Thats terrible." said Lilly

**There was a scuffling from outside. Lupin dived for the back **

**door; Harry leapt over Hagrid's legs and sprinted into the yard. **

**Two figures had appeared in the yard, and as Harry ran toward **

**them he realized they were Hermione, now returning to her normal **

**appearance, and Kingsley, both clutching a bent coat hanger. Hermione flung herself into Harry's arms, but Kingsley showed no **

**pleasure at the sight of any of them. Over Hermione's shoulder **

**Harry saw him raise his wand and point it at Lupin's chest. **

"**The last words Albus Dumbledore spoke to the pair of us!" **

"**Harry is the best hope we have. Trust him," said Lupin calmly.**

"One, I don't think the potion would have worked on me anyways." said Remus

"Why not- oh, werewolf. No it wouldn't." said Lilly

"And two, you really have a lot of pressure ridding on you, Harry." Remus finished

Harry nodded "Ya, can't someone else with more experience take your place?" asked Lilly, worried for her son.

** "**No, they cant and even if it were possible I would never give that burden to someone else." said Harry, the conviction was obvious in his voice.

"i understand why you wont but how come you cant?" asked James

"The book will explain." Harry answered but Lilly heard him mudder to himself "because neither can live while the other survives." Lilly had enough tact to pretend as if she hadn't heard but what did it mean?

**Kingsley turned his wand on Harry, but Lupin said, "It's him, **

**I've checked!" **

"**All right, all right!" said Kingsley, stowing his wand back **

**beneath his cloak. "But somebody betrayed us! They knew, they **

**knew it was tonight!" **

"**So it seems," replied Lupin, "but apparently they did not realize that there would be seven Harry's." **

"**Small comfort!" snarled Kingsley. "Who else is back?" **

"**Only Harry, Hagrid, George, and me." **

**Hermione stifled a little moan behind her hand.**

"Is that because I wasn't back yet?" whispered Ron to Hermione. Harry who was the only other one to hear this exchange couldn't miss the hopefulness in his voice.

Hermione grinned "Of course." she whispered back and Harry suddenly felt an emptiness in his stomach that hadn't been there before; he missed Ginny.

"**What happened to you?" Lupin asked Kingsley. **

"**Followed by five, injured two, might've killed one,"**

"Not bad." said Sirius, appraisingly

**Kingsley reeled off, "and we saw You-Know-Who as well, he joined the chase **

**halfway through but vanished pretty quickly. Remus, he can — " **

"**Fly," supplied Harry. "I saw him too, he came after Hagrid **

**and me." **

"**So that's why he left, to follow you!" said Kingsley. "I couldn't **

**understand why he'd vanished. But what made him change targets?" **

"**Harry behaved a little too kindly to Stan Shunpike," said **

**Lupin. **

"**Stan?" repeated Hermione. "But I thought he was in Azkaban?" **

**Kingsley let out a mirthless laugh. **

"**Hermione, there's obviously been a mass breakout which the **

**Ministry has hushed up. Traver's hood fell off when I cursed him, **

**he's supposed to be inside too. But what happened to you, Remus? **

**Where's George?" **

"**He lost an ear," said Lupin. **

"**Lost an— ?" repeated Hermione in a high voice. **

"**Snape's work," **

James couldn't help himself this time "Bloody rotten git!"

"I said not to call him that!" snapped Harry

Ron turned and starred at him "He cursed Georges ear off and you tell him not to call him exactly what he is!?" asked Ron, incredulous.

Harry wouldn't meet Ron's eyes but he said in a quiet voice "He didn't mean to."

Ron blew up, just like Harry knew he would "Didn't mean to!? DIDN'T MEAN TO!? I don't bloody well care if he meant to or not, he CURSED MY BROTHERS EAR OFF!"

Harry only looked away "What is with you lately!?" Ron raged on "You won't talk to us or even look at us. You spend all your time with Ginny and you haven't told us anything!" Ron's eyes were alight with frustration and anger.

"You don't understand-" began Harry

Ron cut him off "I don't understand!? I DON'T UNDERSTAND!?," he screamed "We may not be 'The Boy Who Lived' but your not the only one to suffer!"

"I never said that." said Harry, still as calm and reserved as ever.

"No you didn't. You don't say anything anymore." said Ron bitterly.

"I don't have to tell you everything." snapped Harry "I have to share all my thought with you, why cant you just be happy with that!?"

Ron still looked angry but he dropped it, he knew that Harry had won.

**said Lupin. **

"**Snape? " shouted Harry, "You didn't say — " **

"**He lost his hood during the chase. Sectumsempra was always **

**a speciality of Snape's.  
**

"Thats because he invented it." said Harry, darkly.

"He invented a spell?" asked Remus

"He's invented a few spells." said Lilly, saddly

"Yes he has, most of them dark." said Harry and Hermione nodded, she let go of Ron's hand, she had grabbed onto it when he had yelled at Harry.

**I wish I could say I'd paid him back in **

**kind, **

"Wish I had." said Remus, much to the surprise of everyone else, he had always stayed out of the rivalry between Snap and the other Marauders. "He deserves it in the future." Remus said in return to the questioning looks

"He doesn't." said Harry, firmly. Hermione grabbed Ron's shoulder in warning and he reluctantly settled back in his cushion.

**but it was all I could do to keep George on the broom after **

**he was injured, he was loosing so much blood."**

Ron grimaced but did not comment.

**Silence fell between the four of them as they looked up at **

**the sky. There was no sign of movement; the stars stared back, **

**unblinking, indifferent, unobscured by flying friends. Where was **

**Ron? Where were Fred and Mr. Weasley? Where were Bill, Fleur, **

**Tonks, Mad-Eye, and Mundungus? **

"**Harry, give us a hand!" called Hagrid hoarsely from the door, **

**in which he was stuck again. Glad of something to do, Harry pulled **

**him free, then headed through the empty kitchen and back into the **

**sitting room, where Mrs. Weasley had staunched his bleeding now, **

**and by the lamplight Harry saw a clean, gaping hole where George's **

**ear had been. **

"**How is he?" **

**Mrs. Weasley looked around and said, "I can't make it grow **

**back, not when it's been removed by Dark Magic. But it could **

**have been so much worse . . . He's alive." **

"**Yeah," said Harry. "Thank God." **

"**Did I hear someone else in the yard?" Ginny asked. **

"**Hermione and Kingsley," said Harry. **

"**Thank goodness," Ginny whispered. **

**They looked at each **

**other. Harry wanted to hug her, hold on to her;**

"Thats my sister, mate." he said it stiffly but at leest he wasn't mad at him anymore.

"Shes also my girlfriend." said Harry, doing his best to sound light and joking but it was hard. Ron saw his effort and grinned.

h**e did not even **

**care much that Mrs. Weasley was there, but before he could act **

**on the impulse there was a great crash from the kitchen. **

"**I'll prove who I am, Kingsley, after I've seen my son, now back **

**off if you know what's good for you!" **

**Harry had never heard Mr. Weasley shout like that before. He **

**burst into the living room, his bald patch gleaming with sweat, his **

**spectacles askew, Fred right behind him, both pale but uninjured. **

"**Arthur!" sobbed Mrs. Weasley. "Oh thank goodness!" **

"**How is?" **

**Mr. Weasley dropped to his knees beside George. For the first **

**time since Harry had known him, Fred seemed to be lost for words. **

**He gaped over the back of the sofa at his twin's wound as if he could **

**not believe what he was seeing. **

"People will be able to tell them apart now." said Sirius with a pout. Ron grimaced and Harry knew what he was thinking; there wouldn't be two of them to tell apart for much longer.

**Perhaps roused by the sound of Fred and their father's arrival, **

**George stirred. **

"**How do you feel, Georgie?" whispered Mrs. Weasley. **

**George's fingers groped at the side of his head. **

"**Saintlike" he murmured.**

"What?" asked James, alarmed

"**What's wrong with him?" croaked Fred, looking terrified: "Is **

**his mind affected?" **

"**Saintlike," repeated George, opening his eyes and looking up **

**at his brother. "You see . . . I'm holy. Holey. Fred: geddit?"**

"Thats week." sighed Sirius

"He could have thought of something a little better." admitted James. Remus nodded

**Mrs. Weasley sobbed harder than ever. Color flooded Fred's **

**pale face. **

"**Pathetic," he told George. "Pathetic! With the whole wide **

**world of ear-related humor before you, you go for holey?" **

"**Ah well," said George, grinning at his tear-soaked mother. **

"**You'll be able to tell us apart now, anyway, Mum." **

"I had the same idea." said Sirius

**He looked around. **

"**Hi, Harry— you are Harry, right?" **

"**Yeah, I am," said Harry, moving closer to the sofa. **

"**Well, at least we got you back okay," said George, "Why aren't **

**Ron and Bill huddled round my sickbed?" **

"**They're not back yet, George," said Mrs. Weasley. George's **

**grin faded.**

"It's strange how he was smilling about his ear and then suddenly became serious when he found out people weren't back yet." said Lilly

"No it's not." said Harry and James together, their voices so alike it was difficult to tell that they both had spoken and not either or. Both James and Harry were looking at Lilly incredulously, as if she had stated her undying love for Blast-Ended Skrewts.

Lilly looked taken aback. "Okay..." she said hesitantly.

**Harry glanced at Ginny and motioned her to accompany him back outside.**

Sirius broke the tension by letting out a particularly loud wold whistle.

**As they walked through the kitchen she **

**said in a low voice, **

"**Ron and Tonks should be back by now. They didn't have a **

**long journey; Auntie Muriel's not that far from here."**

"Thats because the bloody witch wouldn't let us leave, seemed to think staying for tea and biscuits was more important." grumbled Ron.

"Did she really try to make you stay for tea?" asked Hermione, she had never liked Muriel, probably because the first thing the women had ever said to her was "Your a muggle born, huh?" and had added in afterthought "Much to skinny ankles."

"She did, started fusing over the state of our robes. Almost hexed her but Tonks finally closed the door on her fat nose." Ron said and everybody laughed. Harry could just see the tip of his ears turning red underneath his equally shocking hair.

**Harry said nothing. He had been trying to keep fear at bay ever **

**since reaching the Burrow, but now it enveloped him, seeming to **

**crawl over his skin, throbbing in his chest, clogging his throat. As **

**they walked down the back steps into the dark yard, Ginny took **

**his hand.**

Lilly's "Awww." was outdone by Sirius's wolf whistle.

"Thats my sister." said Ron, but there wasn't any real conviction in his voice, he had resigned to the fact his best mate (were they still best mates?) was dating his sister but he didn't dare think anymore of the subject than he had to.

"Well it looks like your best friend and your sister are dating, so you better get used to it." said James, there was more laughing. But Ron wasn't so sure, he knew that Harry and Ginny had gotten back together after the battle, although they never really had broken up. But never once was Harry mentioned in any conversations Ginny had with Ron, then again they didn't really talk much anymore, she spent most of her time with Harry, god knows where, doing stuff that Ron did NOT want to think about. Hermione had convinced him to leave it alone and warned him that if he intervened it would only make matters worse. On the one occasion that Ron had attempted to talk it out with Harry he had simply stared at him and Ron was unable to discern anything from him. Harry didn't even sleep in his bunk anymore and when Ron had asked Hermione if Ginny had been bunking in the girls dormitory she had reluctantly told him that she had not.

**Kingsley was striding backward and forward, glancing up at the **

**sky every time he turned. Harry was reminded of Uncle Vernon **

**pacing the living room a million years ago. Hagrid, Hermione, and **

**Lupin stood shoulder to shoulder, gazing upward in silence. None **

**of them looked around when Harry and Ginny joined their silent **

**vigil. **

**The minutes stretched into what might as well have been years. **

**The slightest breath of wind made them all jump and turn toward **

**the whispering bush or tree in the hope that one of the missing **

**Order members might leap unscathed from its leaves — **

**And then a broom materialized directly above them**

"I wonder who it is." said Lilly, not expecting an answer and not receiving one.

**and streaked toward the ground— **

"**It's them!" screamed Hermione. **

**Tonks landed in a long skid that sent earth and pebbles every- **

**where. **

"**Remus!" Tonks cried as she staggered off the broom into **

**Lupin's arms. His face was set and white: He seemed unable to **

**speak. **

Sirius' mouth was poised to make a comment but he thought better of it, Remus really did love Nymphad- er, Tonks and it would be nice to have someone else he liked in the family, that is if he was still alive.

**Ron tripped dazedly toward Harry and Hermione. **

"**You're okay," he mumbled, before Hermione flew at him and **

**hugged him tightly. **

"**I thought— I thought — " **

"'**M all right," said Ron, patting her on the back. "'M fine." **

"**Ron was great," said Tonks warmly, relinquishing her hold on **

**Lupin. "Wonderful. Stunned one of the Death Eaters, straight to **

**the head, and when you're aiming at a moving target from a flying **

**broom—" **

"**You did?" said Hermione, gazing up at Ron with her arms **

**still around his neck. **

"**Always the tone of surprise," he said a little grumpily,**

Hermione blushed as Ron looked at her reproachfully. "You know that I believe in you." she said, the color rising in her cheeks even more. His face stayed impassive but there was a smile in his eyes that she didn't miss.

**Breaking free. "Are we the last back?" **

"**No," said Ginny, "we're still waiting for Bill and Fleur and **

**Mad-Eye and Mundungus. I'm going to tell Mum and Dad you're **

**okay, Ron—" **

**She ran back inside. **

"**So what kept you? What happened?" Lupin sounded almost **

**angry at Tonks. **

"**Bellatrix," said Tonks. "She wants me quite as much as she **

**wants Harry, Remus, she tried very hard to kill me. I just wish **

**I'd got her, I owe Bellatrix.**

"I like Tonks." said Sirius, who had felt a little swoop of joy that she cared enough about him to want revenge.

"We like her to," said James "although not as much as Remus." he said

Remus looked annoyed but a smile was tugging at the corners of his mouth.

**But we definitely injured Rodolphus. . . . Then we got to Ron's Auntie Muriel's and we'd missed **

**our Portkey and she was fussing over us — " **

**A muscle was jumping in Lupin's jaw. He nodded, but seemed **

**unable to say anything else.**

"Why am I acting so weird?" asked Remus, this didn't seem like him.

"You do seem a bit on edge." said Lilly

"Ya, a bit." said Remus

"Well we can't really blame you under the current situation, mate, you were just attacked by Voldemort." said James and Sirius nodded.

"**So what happened to you lot?" Tonks asked, turning to Harry, **

**Hermione, and Kingsley. **

**They recounted the stories of their own journeys, but all the **

**time the continued absence of Bill, Fleur, Mad-eye, and Mundungus seemed to lie upon them like a frost, its icy bite harder and **

**harder to ignore. **

"**I'm going to have to get back to Downing Street, I should have **

**been there an hour ago," said Kingsley finally, after a last sweeping **

**gaze at the sky. "Let me know when they're back." **

**Lupin nodded. With a wave to the others, Kingsley walked **

**away into the darkness toward the gate. Harry thought he heard **

**the faintest pop as Kingsley Disapparated just beyond the Burrow's **

**boundaries. **

**Mr. and Mrs. Weasley came racing down the back steps, Ginny **

**behind them. Both parents hugged Ron before turning to Lupin **

**and Tonks. **

"**Thank you," said Mrs. Weasley, "for our sons." **

"**Don't be silly, Molly," said Tonks at once. **

"**How's George?" asked Lupin. **

"**What's wrong with him?" piped up Ron. **

"**He's lost— " **

**But the end of Mrs. Weasley's sentence was drowned in a general outcry: A **

**Thestral had just soared into sight and landed a few **

**feet from them. Bill and Fleur slid from its back, windswept but **

**unhurt. **

"**Bill! Thank God, thank God — "**

**Mrs. Weasley ran forward, but the hug Bill bestowed upon her **

**was perfunctory. Looking directly at his father, he said, "Mad- **

**Eye's dead." **

** "**'The Fallen Warrior'." quoted Lilly, sadly.

"I never thought it would be Mad-Eye." said Sirius, just as solemnly as Lilly.

"We didn't think that Dumbledore would be the one to go either, but he did." said James, his hand had slipped into Lilly's once again.

"Ya, everybody who dies seems like the most unlikely." said Remus and they nodded.

**Nobody spoke, nobody moved. Harry felt as though something **

**inside him was falling, falling through the earth, leaving him for- **

**ever. **

"**We saw it," said Bill; Fleur nodded, tear tracks glittering on **

**her cheeks in the light from the kitchen window. "It happened just **

**after we broke out of the circle: Mad-Eye and Dung were close by **

**us, they were heading north too, Voldemort — he can fly— went **

**straight for them. Dung panicked, I heard him cry out, Mad-Eye **

**tried to stop him, but he Disapparated.**

"Bloody coward," said James, he hated cowardice almost as much as Sirius "He's in seventh year right now. Sirius, remind me after this book is done to make sure the rest of his year is particularly inconvenient." Sirius nodded, a glint his eye that made the others squirm but no one objected.

**Voldemort's curse hit Mad-Eye full in the face, he fell backward off his broom and— there was **

**nothing we could do, nothing, we had half a dozen of them on our **

**own tail—" **

**Bill's voice broke. **

"**Of course you couldn't have done anything," said Lupin. **

**They all stood looking at each other. Harry could not quite **

**comprehend it. Mad-Eye's dead; it could not be . . . Mad-Eye, so **

**tough, so brave, the consummate survivor . . . **

**At last it seemed to dawn on everyone, though nobody said **

**it, that there was no point waiting in the yard anymore, and in **

**silence they followed Mr. and Mrs. Weasley back into the Burrow, **

**and into the living room, where Fred and George were laughing **

**together. **

"**What's wrong?" said Fred, scanning their faced as they en- **

**tered. "What happened? Who's — ?" **

"**Mad-Eye," said Mr. Weasley. "Dead." **

**The twins' grins turned to grimaces of shock. Nobody seemed **

**to know what to do. Tonks was crying silently into a handkerchief; **

**She had been close to Mad-Eye, Harry knew, his favorite and his **

**protégé at the Ministry of Magic.**

"Seems like your wife is pretty skilled." said Sirius, in a pore attempt at lightening the mood.

**Hagrid, who had sat down on **

**the floor in the corner where he had most space, was dabbing at **

**his eyes with his tablecloth-sized handkerchief. **

**Bill walked over to the sideboard and pulled out a bottle of **

**firewhisky and some glasses. **

"**Here," he said, and with a wave of his wand he sent twelve **

**full classes soaring through the room to each of them, holding the **

**thirteenth aloft. "Mad-Eye," **

"**Mad-Eye," they all said, and drank. **

"**Mad-Eye," echoed Hagrid, a little late, with a hiccup. **

**The firewhisky seared Harry's throat. It seemed to burn feel- **

**ing back into him, dispelling the numbness and sense of unreality, **

**filling him with something that was like courage.**

"You and James have that in common." said Sirius, again trying to dispel the tension but only succeeding in beginning a small conversation.

"Very true." said Remus in a forced light tone.

** "**I suppose it does." said James

"You suppose? Remember that time in first year when-" began Sirius

"Oi, shut it!" James said, casting a worrisome glance at Lilly, that was not a story he wanted her to hear.

"Or what about that time in second year?" asked Remus, a grin was plastered on his face. Again he cast a glance at Lilly before glaring at his friends.

"Or that time in third or fourth or last week." said Sirius between guffaws.

Lilly was looking from Sirius, to Remus, to James. "Oh, I bet Lilly would like to hear about the one during the end of our third year." said Remus

"Oh yes, that one was especially 'brave'." laughed Sirius "We were out in Hogsmeade that night an-" but Sirius got no further as James let go of Lilly's hand and launched himself at Sirius. Sirius was to busy laughing to fight back and Remus was forcibly bent over himself in mirth, unable to lend a hand to either side.

"You-" James punched Sirius in the gut "agreed-" another hit to the shoulder "We-" a second to the gut "would-" Sirius finally got a hit at James but only succeeded in knocking his glasses askew "NEVER-" James hit Sirius in the ribs "Speak-" James finally sat triumphantly atop Sirius' stomach "of that again!"

Lilly was now looking suspiciously at James "You were in Hogsmeade at night?" asked she asked.

James looked at Sirius accusatorily "Yes." he said

"How did you get there?" asked Lilly

"Secret passage way." said James, still glaring at Sirius, who was now laughing again.

"Secret passage?" said Lilly, her eyebrows raised "What secret passage?"

"The one under the hump of the One-Eyed Witch." said James

Surprising them all Lilly said "I'll have to remember that, Hogsmeade is beautiful at night."

"Alright," said James, his eyes now alight "I'll take you sometime?" it was phrased as a question and in answer she simply smiled and rested her head on his shoulder. James grinned.

"**So Mundungus disappeared?" said Lupin, who had drained **

**his own glass in one.**

"All these years of drinking suer has payed off." said Sirius

"You know that it does nothing." said Remus

"Why wouldn't it work?" asked Lilly

"Werewolf." said Remus "It takes almost ten times the amount of alcohol to get a Werewolf even tipsy." regret was evident in his tone, he had always watched Sirius and James have the best of times while drunk and he had always had to be the mature one, just once Remus would have liked to be the reckless one.

**The atmosphere changed at once. Everybody looked tense, **

**watching Lupin, both wanting him to go on, it seemed to Harry, **

**and slightly afraid of what they might hear. **

"**I know what you're thinking," said Bill. "and I wondered that **

**too, one the way back here, because they seemed to be expecting us, **

**didn't they? But Mundungus can't have betrayed us. They didn't **

**know there would be seven Harry's, that confused them the moment **

**we appeared, and in case you've forgotten, it was Mundungus who **

**suggested that little bit of skullduggery.**

Sirius giggled and everyone turned their eyes to him in question "Skullduggery." he said, tears streaming from his eyes in silent laughter. Everyone rolled there eyes, used to his random antics.

**Why wouldn't he have told **

**them the essential point? I think Dung panicked, it's as simple as **

**that. He didn't want to come in the first place, but Mad-Eye made **

**him, and You-Know-Who went straight for them. It was enough**

**to make anyone panic." **

"**You-Know-Who acted exactly as Mad-Eye expected him to," **

**sniffed Tonks, "Mad-Eye said he's expect the real Harry to be with **

**the toughest, most skilled Aurors. He chased Mad-Eye first, and **

**when Mundungus gave them away he switched to Kingsley. . . ." **

"**Yes, and zat eez all very good," snapped Fleur, "but still eet **

**does not explain 'ow zey knew we were moving 'Arry tonight, does **

**it? Somebody must 'ave been careless. Somebody let slip ze date **

**to an outsider. It is ze only explanation for zeim knowing ze date **

**but not ze 'ole plan." **

**She glared around at them all, tear tracks still etched on her **

**beautiful face, silently daring any of them to contradict her. Nobody did. The only sound to break the silence was that of Hagrid **

**hiccuping from behind his handkerchief. Harry glanced at Hagrid, **

**who had just risked his own life to save Harry's — Hagrid, whom **

**he loved, whom he trusted, who had once been tricked into giving **

**Voldemort crucial information in exchange for a dragon's egg. . . . **

"**No," Harry said out loud, and they all looked at him, surprised. **

**The firewhisky seemed to have amplified his voice.**

"Apple doesn't fall far from the tree." said Sirius through an over sized mouthful of kidney pie.

"**I mean . . . if **

**somebody made a mistake," Harry went on, "and let something **

**slip, I know they didn't mean to do it. It's not their fault," he **

**repeated, again a little louder than he would usually have spoken. **

"**We've got to trust each other. I trust all of you, I don't think **

**anyone in this room would ever sell me to Voldemort." **

**More silence followed his words. They were all looking at him; **

**Harry felt a little hot again and drank some more firewhisky for **

**something to do. As he drank, he thought of Mad-eye. Mad-Eye **

**had always been scathing about Dumbledore's willingness to trust **

**people. **

"**Well said, Harry," said Fred unexpectedly. **

"**Yeah, 'ear, 'ear," said George,**

"Terrible." said James, shaking his head in mock shame.

Sirius attempted to reply but was cut off by the glob of pie in his mouth and it came out something like "Hrrmm humherm huma."

**with half a glance at Fred, the **

**corner of whose mouth twitched. **

**Lupin was wearing an odd expression as he looked at Harry. It **

**was close to pitying. **

"**You think I'm a fool?" demanded Harry.**

"No." said Remus

"**No, I think you're like James," said Lupin, "who would have **

**regarded it as the height of dishonor to mistrust his friends." **

**Harry knew what Lupin was getting at: that his father had **

**been betrayed by his friend, Peter Pettigrew.**

"Rat, I could eat him in one bite." said Sirius ,Lilly gave him an odd look but the others gave a snort of laughter.

"Yes, well so could I." said Remus "And maybe I will."

"We could say it was an accident." said James

"Oh yes, you 'accidentaly' ate Peter?" said Lilly, "Remus could get away with that but Sirius, unless your a wolf as well, theres no way."

Sirius looked at James but James shook his head. Lilly looked angry but did not pursue it any further.

**He felt irrationally **

**angry. He wanted to argue, but Lupin had turned away from him, **

**set down his glass upon a side table, and addressed Bill, "There's **

**work to do, I can ask Kingsley whether — " **

"**No," said Bill at once, "I'll do it, I'll come." **

"**Where are you going?" said Tonks and Fleur together. **

"**Mad-Eye's body," said Lupin. "We need to recover it." **

"**Can't it— ?" began Mrs. Weasley with an appealing look at **

**Bill. **

"**Wait?" said Bill. "Not unless you'd rather the Death Eaters **

**took it?" **

**Nobody spoke. Lupin and Bill said good bye and left. **

**The rest of them now dropped into chairs, all except Harry, who **

**remained standing. The suddenness and completeness of death was **

**with them like a presence. **

"**I've got to go to," said Harry.**

** "**That would have completely undermined the point of the mission." said Lilly.

"Yes, I know that." said Harry tersely.

**Ten pairs of startled eyes looked at him. **

"**Don't be silly, Harry," said Mrs. Weasley, "What are you **

**talking about?" **

"**I can't stay here." **

**He rubbed his forehead; it was prickling again. It had not hurt **

**like this for more than a year. **

"Why is your forehead hurting and why does it matter?" asked Sirius but Harry shook his head and they all sighed.

"**You're all in danger while I'm here. I don't want — " **

"**But don't be so silly!" said Mrs. Weasley. "The whole point of **

**tonight was to get you here safely, and thank goodness it worked. **

**And Fleur's agreed to get married here rather than in France, and **

**we've arranged everything so that we can all stay together and look **

**after you—" **

**She did not understand; she was making him feel worse, not **

**better. **

"**If Voldemort finds out I'm here — " **

"**But why should he?" asked Mrs. Weasley. **

"**There are a dozen places you might be now, Harry," said Mr. **

**Weasley. "He's got no way of knowing which safe house you're in." **

"**It's not me I'm worried for!" said Harry. **

"**We know that," said Mr. Weasley quietly. "but it would make **

**our efforts tonight seem rather pointless if you left." **

'**Yer not goin' anywhere," growled Hagrid. "Blimey, Harry, after **

**all we wen' through ter get you here?" **

"**Yeah, what about my bleeding ear?" said George, hoisting **

**himself upon his cushions. **

"**I know that — " **

"**Mad—Eye wouldn't want — " **

"**I KNOW!" Harry bellowed. **

**He felt beleaguered and blackmailed. Did they think he did not **

**know what they had done for him, didn't they understand that **

**it was for precisely that reason that he wanted to go now, before **

**they had to suffer any more on his behalf? There was a long and **

**awkward silence in which his scar continued to prickle and throb,**

"So its your scar thats hurting." said Remus "Iv never heard of a scar that does that." said Remus but no one had an answer and those who did would not share.

**and which was broken at last by Mrs. Weasley. **

"**Where's Hedwig, Harry?" she said coaxingly.**

"Wrong thing to say." said Sirius "That'll only make you feel worse."

"**We can put **

**her up with Pigwidgeon and giver her something to eat." **

**His insides clenched like a fist. He could not tell her the truth. **

**He drank the last of his firewhisky to avoid answering. **

"**Wait till it gets out yeh did it again, Harry," said Hagrid. **

"**Escaped him, fought him off when he was right on top of yeh!"**

"How many times have you escaped Voldemort?" asked James, a touch of awe in his voice

Harry had no intention of answering but Ron jumped in for him "A lot."

"You must know some powerful magic." said Lilly

"I don't." said Harry, witch was not intierly true

"But then how-" but Harry cut off Lilly's question with a shake of his head.

"**It wasn't me," said Harry flatly. "It was my wand. My wand **

**acted of its own accord." **

**After a few moments, Hermione said gently, "But that's impossible, Harry. You mean that you did magic without meaning to, **

**you reacted instinctively."**

** "**I believe you now." said Hermione but Harry did not care "It sounded impossible then." said Hermione plaintively, Harry only gave a curt nod.

"**No," said Harry. "The bike was falling. I couldn't have told **

**you where Voldemort was, but my wand spun in my hand and **

**found him and shot a spell at him, and it wasn't even a spell I **

**recognized. I've never made gold flames appear before." **

"**Often," said Mr. Weasley, "when you're in a pressured situation you can often produce magic you've never dreamed of. Small **

**children often find, before they're trained— "**

"That really must have been annoying." said Sirius

"It was, although I was used to it, people tend to not believe the things that happen to me and I can see why." said Harry

"I really want to know what these things are but I'm guessing that you aren't going to tell us." said Remus and Harry shook his head.

"**It wasn't like that," said Harry, through gritted teeth. His scar **

**was burning.**

"Does I really hurt that bad?" asked Ron and Harry gave him a detached nod. Both Remus and Lilly looked thoughtful but the others only looked throughly confused.

**He felt angry and frustrated; he hated the idea that **

**they were all imagining him to have power to match Voldemort's. **

** "**You do or you wouldn't have escaped." said Hermione. Harry looked away, they didn't know about the brother wands either, they didn't know about so much. Hermione caught his guilty look "right?" but Harry did not answer, it was easiest that way.

**No one said anything. He knew that they did not believe him. **

**Now that he came to think of it, he had never heard of a wand **

**performing magic on its own before. **

"If it has, its never been recorded." said Remus and Hermione nodded.

**His scar seared with pain;**

Lilly gave him a pitting look but Harry did not return he stare. He hated pitty.

**it was all he could do not to moan **

**aloud. Mutter about fresh air, he set his glass down and left the **

**room. **

**As he crossed the dark yard, the great skeletal Thestral looked **

**up, rustled its enormous batlike wings, then resumed its grazing. **

**Harry stopped at the gate into the garden, staring out at its over- **

**grown plants, rubbing his pounding forehead and thinking of Dumbledore. **

**Dumbledore would have believed him, he knew it.**

Hermione looked guilty again.

**Dumbledore **

**would have known how and why Harry's wand had acted independently, because Dumbledore always had the answers; he had known **

**about wands, had explained to Harry the strange connection that **

**existed between his wand and Voldemort's**

There was a pause before Hermione couldn't help but say "There was a conection!?"

"Yes." said Harry

"How?" asked Ron, he looked angry and he was. How could Harry not have told him?

"The book will explain." said Harry

Ron was angry. That answer was supposed to be for Sirius, Remus, James and Lilly, not for him, he was supposed to know everything because he and Harry were best mates, or the used to be.

**. . . . But Dumbledore, **

**like Mad-Eye, like Sirius, like his parents,**

Lilly had not allowed James to hold her hand sense the last time he had denied her the information about being an animagus but now she slipped her fingers between his and he squeezed her hand.

**like his poor owl, all **

**were gone where Harry could never talk to them again.**

That was not true, Harry had talked to them, not his owl or Mad-Eye but his parents.

**He felt a **

**burning in his throat that had nothing to do with firewhisky. . . . **

**And then, out of nowhere, the pain in his scar peaked. As he **

**clutched his forehead and closed his eyes, a voice screamed inside **

**his head. **

"Whats happening!?" exclaimed Lilly

Harry let his emotionless mask fall for the briefest of moments "Its okay, I'm fine, you'll understand in a moment." Lilly looked at him thankfully, this was the first time she had seen her son so open and sincere.

Hermione felt a rush of hope, maybe he would return to his old self but Harry turned and saw the hopeful look on her face and immediately his walls came crashing back up.

"**You told me the problem would be solved by using another's **

**wand!" **

"Whats happening?" asked James, a twinge of worry for this stranger as well as for his son.

"It explains." said Harry, he did not want his parents to read this.

**And into his mind burst the vision of an emaciated old man **

**lying in rags upon a stone floor, screaming, a horrible, drawn-out **

**scream, a scream of unendurable agony. . . . **

"**No! No! I beg you, I beg you. . . ." **

"**You lied to Lord Voldemort, Ollivander!"**

"Voldemort?" asked Lilly, her voice abnormally quiet.

"He has Ollivander?" asked Remus, who had liked the old wand maker.

"**I did not. . . . I swear I did not. . . ." **

"**You sought to help Potter, to help him escape me!" **

"**I swear I did not. . . . I believed a different wand would **

**work. . . ." **

"**Explain, then, what happened. Lucius's wand is destroyed!" **

"**I cannot understand. . . . The connection . . . exists only . . . be- **

**tween your two wands. . . ." **

"**Lies! " **

"**Please. . . . I beg you. . . ." **

**And Harry saw the white hand raise its wand and felt Voldemort's surge of vicious anger, saw the frail old man on the floor **

**writhe in agony —**

"You saw into his mind, didn't you?" asked Lilly. Harry nodded.

"How did you see into his mind?" asked Sirius, Harry could hear the on edge tone in his voice.

"Occlemency?" asked James

"No, Harry had no control over what was happening." said Remus

"But what if Voldemort was forcing him to see it?" asked James

"No, I don't think so. Why would Voldemort give Harry information that he didn't have to?" said Remus

"Then what?" said James

Sirius saw the sad look on Harry's face. This was his godson and he could tell that their reaction had hurt him, especially James. "I'm sure theres a good reason," he said, sharing a look with Harry "We will find out later in the book."

James opened his mouth to argue but a punch from Remus shut him up. Lilly held her surprise underneath the surface this time, she beginning to see more and more that her initial take of Sirius had been skewed.

"**Harry?" **

**It was over as quickly as it had come: Harry stood shaking in **

**the darkness, clutching the gate into the garden, his heart racing, **

**his scar still tingling. It was several moments before he realized **

**that Ron and Hermione were at his side. **

"**Harry, come back in the house," Hermione whispered. "You **

**aren't still thinking of leaving?" **

"**Yeah, you've got to stay, mate," said Ron, thumping Harry on **

**the back. **

"**Are you all right?" Hermione asked, close enough now to look **

**into Harry's face. "You look awful!" **

"**Well," said Harry shakily, "I probably look better than Ollivander. . . ." **

**When he had finished telling them what he had seen, Ron looked **

**appalled, but Hermione downright terrified. **

"**But it was supposed to have stopped!**

"This has happened before!?" asked James but before Harry could confirm this Sirius looked at James pointedly. The starring match lasted a moment before James turned away.

**Your scar — it wasn't **

**supposed to do this anymore! You mustn't let that connection **

**open up again— Dumbledore wanted you to close your mind!"**

"So it is Occlemency?" Asked Remus.

"No and yes." said Harry cryptically.

"Thats the only answer your going to give us, right?" asked Remus

"Yes." said Harry

**When he did not reply, she gripped his arm. **

"**Harry, he's taking over the Ministry and the newspapers and **

**half the Wizarding world! Don't let him inside your head too!"**

"And thats the end of the chapter." said Remus.

"I want to know how this Voldemort mind reading thing works." said James.

"I cant tell you." said Harry

"Yes you can!" snapped James

"James stop." said Lilly, holding onto his shoulder. He let out a frustrated growl but turned in huff.

"Hr just doesn't understand." said Sirius, laying a hand on Harry's shoulder. "He'll come around, your his son after all."

"Do you understand anymore than he does?" asked Harry, ignoring the later part of what Sirius had said.

"No, but iv lived with stuff I can't understand my whole life. James, on the other hand, hasn't. One could say he has had a perfect childhood and will continue you to but you and I know that there is more to it then what it appears to be." Harry looked at his godfather, he could see the older Sirius inside this one and he felt himself letting his walls down. Harry trusted this Sirius.

"What if he doesn't like me?" asked Harry, to his own ears he sounded like a child on his first day of school.

"How could he not, you are so much alike." reassured Sirius but Harry frowned, how would have agreed with Sirius had he said the same thing a year ago but now he was very different.

"I suppose." said Harry doubtfully.

Sirius guessed what he was thinking. "I can tell that you have gone through difficulty and pain but that does not change who you are or once were. You were Harry two years ago, you are Harry today and you will continue to be Harry for the rest of your life."

Harry nodded, he understood, it was undoubtedly easier said then done but at least he knew the his mother and his godfather liked him. Harry was still unsure about his father and Remus was not a priority.

Sirius clapped him on the back and returned to the circle "Who wants to read next?" asked Sirius

"I will." said Ron and he was handed the book.

Chapter 6

The Ghoul in Pajamas

T he shock of losing Mad-Eye hung over the house in

the days that followed; Harry kept expecting to see

him stumping in through the back door like the other

Order members, who passed in and out to relay news.

Harry felt that nothing but action would assuage his feelings of

guilt and grief and that he ought to set out on his mission to find

and destroy Horcruxes as soon as possible.

"Well, you can't do anything about the" — Ron mouthed the

word Horcruxes — "till you're seventeen. You've still got the Trace

on you. And we can plan here as well as anywhere, can't we? Or,"

he dropped his voice to a whisper, "d'you reckon you already know

where the You-Know-Whats are?"

"No," Harry admitted.

"I think Hermione's been doing a bit of research," said Ron.

"She said she was saving it for when you got here."

They were sitting at the breakfast table; Mr. Weasley and Bill

had just left for work. Mrs. Weasley had gone upstairs to wake

86The Ghoul in Pajamas

Hermione and Ginny, while Fleur had drifted o↵ to take a bath.

"The Trace'll break on the thirty-first," said Harry. "That

means I only need to stay here four days. Then I can — "

"Five days," Ron corrected him firmly. "We've got to stay for

the wedding. They'll kill us if we miss it."

Harry understood "they" to mean Fleur and Mrs. Weasley.

"It's one extra day," said Ron, when Harry looked mutinous.

"Don't they realize how important — ?"

"'Course they don't," said Ron. "They haven't got a clue. And

now you mention it, I want to talk to you about that."

Ron glanced toward the door into the hall to check that Mrs.

Weasley was not returning yet, then leaned in closer to Harry.

"Mum's been trying to get it out of Hermione and me. What

we're o↵ to do. She'll try you next, so brace yourself. Dad and

Lupin've both asked us as well, but when we said Dumbledore

told you not to tell anyone except us, they dropped it. Not Mum,

though. She's determined."

Ron's prediction came true within hours. Shortly before lunch,

Mrs. Weasley detached Harry from the others by asking him to

help identify a lone man's sock that she thought might've come out

of his rucksack. Once she had him cornered in the tiny scullery o↵

the kitchen, she started.

"Ron and Hermione seem to think that the three of you are

dropping out of Hogwarts," she began in a light, casual tone.

"Oh," said Harry. "Well, yeah. We are."

The mangle turned of its own accord in a corner, wringing out

what looked like one of Mr. Weasley's vests.

"May I ask why you are abandoning your education?" said Mrs.

87Chapter 6

Weasley.

"Well, Dumbledore left me . . . stu↵ to do," mumbled Harry.

"Ron and Hermione know about it, and they want to come too."

"What sort of 'stu↵' ?"

"I'm sorry, I can't — "

"Well, frankly I think Arthur and I have a right to know and

I'm sure Mr. and Mrs. Granger would agree!" said Mrs. Weasley.

Harry had been afraid of the "concerned parent" attack. He forced

himself to look directly into her eyes, noticing as he did that they

were precisely the same shade of brown as Ginny's. This did not

help.

"Dumbledore didn't want anyone else to know, Mrs. Weasley.

I'm sorry, Ron and Hermione don't have to come, it's their choice —

"

"I don't see that you have to go either!" she snapped, dropping

all pretense now. "You're barely of age, any of you! It's utter

nonsense, if Dumbledore needed work doing, he had the whole

Order at his command! Harry, you must have misunderstood him.

Probably he was telling you something he wanted done, and you

took it to mean that he wanted you — "

"I didn't misunderstand," said Harry flatly. "It's got to be me."

He handed her back the single stock he was supposed to be

identifying, which was patterned with golden bulrushes.

"And that's not mine, I don't support Puddlemere United."

"Oh, of course not," said Mrs. Weasley with a sudden and

rather unnerving return to her casual tone. "I should have real-

ized. Well, Harry, while we've still got you here, you won't mind

helping with the preparations for Bill and Fleur's wedding, will

88The Ghoul in Pajamas

you? There's still so much to do."

"No—I—of course not," said Harry, disconcerted by this sud-

den change of subject.

"Sweet of you," she replied, and she smiled as she left the

scullery.

From that moment on, Mrs. Weasley keep Harry, Ron, and Her-

mione so busy with preparations for the wedding that they hardly

had any time to think. The kindest explanation of this behavior

would have been that Mrs. Weasley wanted to distract them all

from thoughts of Mad-Eye and the terrors of their recent journey.

After two days of nonstop cutlery cleaning, of color-matching fa-

vors, ribbons, and flowers, of de-gnoming the garden and helping

Mrs. Weasley cook vast batches of canap ́

es, however, Harry started

to suspect her of a di↵erent motive. All the jobs she handed out

seems to keep him, Ron, and Hermione away from one another;

he had not had a chance to speak to the two of them alone since

the first night, when he had told them about Voldemort torturing

Ollivander.

"I think Mum thinks that if she can stop the three of you getting

together and planning, she'll be able to delay your leaving," Ginny

told Harry in an undertone, as they laid the table for dinner on

the third night of his stay.

"And then what does she think's going to happen?" Harry mut-

tered. "Someone else might kill o↵ Voldemort while she's holding

us here making vol-au-vents?"

He had spoken without thinking, and saw Ginny's face whiten.

"So it's true?" She said, "That's what you're trying to do?"

"I—not—I was joking," said Harry evasively.

89Chapter 6

They stared at each other, and there was something more than

shock in Ginny's expression. Suddenly Harry became aware that

this was the first time that he had been alone with her since their

stolen hours in secluded corners of the Hogwarts grounds. He was

sure she was remembering them too. Both of them jumped as the

door opened, and Mr. Weasley, Kingsley, and Bill walked in.

They were often joined by other Order members for dinner now,

because the Burrow had replaced number twelve, Grimmauld Place

as the headquarters. Mr. Weasley had explained that after the

death of Dumbledore, their Secret-Keeper, each of the people to

whom Dumbledore had confided Grimmauld Place's location had

become a Secret People in turn.

"And as there are around twenty of us, that greatly dilutes the

power of the Fidelius Charm. Twenty times as many opportunities

for the Death Eaters to get the secret out of somebody. We can't

expect it to hold much longer."

"But surely Snape will have told the Death Eaters the address

by now?" asked Harry.

"Well, Mad-Eye set up a couple of curses against Snape in case

he turns up there again. We hope they'll be strong enough both

to keep him out and to bind his tongue if he tries to talk about

the place, but we can't be sure. It would have been insane to keep

using the place as headquarters now that its protection has become

so shaky."

The kitchen was so crowded that evening was difficult to ma-

neuver knives and forks. Harry found himself crammed beside

Ginny; the unsaid things that had just passed between them made

him wish they had been separated by a few more people. He was

90The Ghoul in Pajamas

trying to hard to avoid brushing her arm he could barely cut his

chicken.

"No news about Mad-Eye?" Harry asked Bill.

"Nothing," replied Bill.

They had not been able to hold a funeral for Moody, because

Bill and Lupin had failed to recover his body. It had been difficult

to know where he might have fallen, given the darkness and the

confusion of the battle.

"The Daily Prophet hasn't said a word about him dying or

about finding the body," Bill went on. "But that doesn't mean

much. It's keeping a lot quiet these days."

"And they still haven't called a hearing about all the underage

magic I used escaping the Death Eaters?" Harry called across the

table to Mr. Weasley, who shook his head.

"Because they know I had no choice or because they don't want

me to tell the world Voldemort attacked me?" "The latter, I think.

Scrimgeour doesn't want to admit that You-Know-Who is as pow-

erful as he is, nor that Azkaban's seen a mass breakout."

"Yeah, why tell the public the truth?" said Harry, clenching his

knife so tightly that the faint scars on the back of his right hand

stood out, white against his skin: I must not tell lies.

"Isn't anyone at the Ministry prepared to stand up to him?"

asked Ron angrily.

"Of course, Ron, but people are terrified." Mr. Weasley replied,

"terrified that they will be next to disappear, their children the

next to be attacked! There are nasty rumors going around; I for

one don't believe the Muggle Studies professor at Hogwarts re-

signed. She hasn't been seen for weeks now. Meanwhile Scrim-

91Chapter 6

geour remains shut up in his office all day. I just hope he's working

on a plan. There was a pause in which Mrs. Weasley magicked her

empty plates onto the work surface and served apple tart.

"We must decide 'ow you will be disguised,'Arry," said Fleur,

once everyone had pudding. "For ze wedding," she added, when he

looked confused. "Of course, none of our guests are Death Eaters,

but we cannot guarantee zat zey will not let something slip after

zey 'ave 'ad champagne."

From this, Harry gathered that she still suspected Hagrid.

"Yes, good point," said Mrs. Weasley from the top of the table,

where she sat, spectacles perched on the end of her nose, scanning

an immense list of jobs that she had scribbled on a very long piece

of parchment. "Now, Ron, have you cleaned out your room yet?"

"Why? " exclaimed Ron, slamming his spoon down and glaring

at his mother. "Why does my room have to be cleaned out? Harry

and I are both fine with it the way it is!"

"We are holding your brother's wedding here in a few days'

time, young man — "

"And are they getting married in my bedroom?" asked Ron

furiously. "No! So why in the name of Merlin's saggy left — "

"Don't you talk to your mother like that," said Mr. Weasley

firmly, "And do as you're told."

Ron scowled at both his parents, then picked up his spoon and

attacked the last few mouthfuls of his apple tart.

"I can help, some of it's my mess." Harry told Ron, but Mrs.

Weasley cut across him.

"No, Harry, dear, I'd much rather you helped Arthur muck out

the chickens, and Hermione, I'd be ever so grateful if you'd change

92The Ghoul in Pajamas

the sheets for Monsieur and Madame Delacour, you know they're

arriving at eleven tomorrow morning."

But as it turned out, there was very little to do for the chickens,

"There's no need to, er, mention it to Molly," Mr. Weasley told

Harry, blocking his access to the coop, "but, er, Ted Tonks sent me

most of what was left of Sirius's bike, and, er, I'm hiding — that's

to say, keeping — it in here. Fantastic stu↵! There's an exhaust

gaskin, as I believe it's called, the most magnificent battery, and

it'll be a great opportunity to find out how brakes work. I'm going

to try and put it all back together again when Molly's not — I mean,

when I've got time."

When they returned to the house, Mrs. Weasley was nowhere

to be seen, so Harry slipped upstairs to Ron's attic bedroom.

"I'm doing it, I'm doing — ! Oh, it's you," said Ron in relief, as

Harry entered the room. Ron lay back down on the bed, which he

had evidently just vacated. The room was just as messy as it had

been all week; the only change was that Hermione was now sitting

in the far corner, her flu↵y ginger cat, Crookshanks, at her feet,

sorting books, some of which Harry recognized as his own, into two

enormous piles.

"Hi, Harry," she said, as he sat down on his camp bed.

"And how did you manage to get away?"

"Oh, Ron's mum forgot that she asked Ginny and me to change

the sheets yesterday," said Hermione. She threw Numerology and

Grammatica onto one pile and Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts onto

the other.

"We were just talking about Mad-Eye," Ron told Harry. "I

reckon he might have survived."

93Chapter 6

"But Bill saw him hit by the Killing Curse," said Harry.

"Yeah, but Bill was under attack too," said Ron. "How can he

be sure what he saw?"

"Even if the Killing curse missed, Mad Eye still fell about a

thousand feet," said Hermione, now weighing Quidditch Teams of

Britain and Ireland in her hand.

"He could have used a Shield Charm — "

"Fleur said his wand was blasted out of his hand," said Harry.

"Well, all right, if you want him to be dead," said Ron grumpily,

punching his pillow into a more comfortable shape.

"Of course we don't want him to be dead!" said Hermione,

looking shocked. "It's dreadful that he's dead! But we're being

realistic!"

For the first time, Harry imagined Mad — Eye's body, broken

as Dumbledore's had been, yet with that one eye still whizzing in

its socket. He felt a stab of revulsion mixed with a bizarre desire

to laugh.

"The Death Eaters probably tidied up after themselves, that's

why no one's found him," said Ron wisely.

"Yeah," said Harry. "Like Barty Crouch, turned into a bone

and buried in Hagrid's front garden. They probably transfigured

Moody and stu↵ed him — "

"Don't!" squealed Hermione. Startled, Harry looked over just

in time to see her burst into tears over her copy of Spellman's

Syllabary.

"Oh no," said Harry, struggling to get up from the old camp

bed. "Hermione, I wasn't trying to upset — "

But with a great creaking of rusty bedsprings, Ron bounded o↵

94The Ghoul in Pajamas

the bed and got there first. One arm around Hermione, he fished

in his jeans pocket and withdrew a revolting-looking handkerchief

that he had used to clean out the over earlier. Hastily pulling out

his wand, he pointed it at the rag and said, "Tergeo."

The wand siphoned o↵ most of the grease. Looking rather

pleased with himself, Ron handed the slightly smoking handker-

chief to Hermione.

"Oh . . . thanks, Ron. . . . I'm sorry. . . ." She blew her nose and

hiccuped. "It's just so awf-ful, isn't it? R–right after Dumble-

dore . . . I j–just n–never imagined Mad-Eye dying, somehow, he

seemed so tough!"

"Yeah, I know," said Ron, giving her a squeeze. "But you know

what he'd say to us if he was here?"

"'C–constant vigilance,'" said Hermione, mopping her eyes.

"That's right," said Ron, nodding. "He'd tell us to learn from

what happened to him. And what I've learned is not to trust that

cowardly little squit, Mundungus."

Hermione gave a shaky laugh and leaned forward to pick up

two more books. A second later, Ron had snatched his arm back

from around her shoulders; she had dropped The Monster Book of

Monsters on his foot. The book had broken free from its restraining

belt and snapped viciously at Ron's ankle.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Hermione cried as Harry wrenched the

book from Ron's leg and retied it shut.

"What are you doing with all those books anyway?" Ron asked,

limping back to his bed.

"Just trying to decide which ones to take with us," said Her-

mione. "When we're looking for the Horcruxes."

95Chapter 6

"Oh, of course," said Ron, clapping a hand to his forehead. "I

forgot we'll be hunting down Voldemort in a mobile library."

"Ha ha," said Hermione, looking down at Spellman's Syllabary.

"I wonder . . . will we need to translate runes? It's possible. . . . I

think we'd better take it, to be safe."

She dropped the syllabary onto the larger of the two piles and

picked up Hogwarts, A History.

"Listen," said Harry.

He had sat up straight. Ron and Hermione looked at him with

similar mixtures of resignation and defiance.

"I know you said after Dumbledore's funeral that you wanted

to come with me," Harry began.

"Here he goes," Ron said to Hermione, rolling his eyes.

"As we knew he would," she sighed, turning back to the books.

"You know, I think I will take Hogwarts, A History. Even if we're

not going back there, I don't think I'd feel right if I didn't have it

with—"

"Listen!" said Harry again.

"No, Harry, you listen," said Hermione. "We're coming with

you. That was decided months ago — years, really."

"But—"

"Shut up," Ron advised him.

"—are you sure you've thought this through?" Harry persisted.

"Let's see," said Hermione, slamming Travels with Trolls onto

the discarded pile with a rather fierce look. "I've been packing for

days, so we're ready to leave at a moment's notice, which for your

information has included doing some pretty difficult magic, not

to mention smuggling Mad-Eye's whole stock of Polyjuice Potion

96The Ghoul in Pajamas

right under Ron's mum's nose.

"I've also modified my parents' memories so that they're con-

vinced that they're really called Wendell and Monica Wilkins, and

that their life's ambition is to move to Australia, which they have

now done. That's to make it more difficult for Voldemort to track

them down and interrogate them about me — or you, because un-

fortunately, I've told them quite a bit about you.

"Assuming I survive our hunt for the Horcruxes, I'll find Mum

and Dad and lift the enchantment. If I don't — well, I think I've

cast a good enough charm to keep them safe and happy. Wendell

and Monica Wilkins don't know that they've got a daughter, you

see."

Hermione's eyes were swimming with tears again. Ron got back

o↵ the bed, put his arms around her once more, and frowned at

Harry as though reproaching him for lack of tact. Harry could not

think of anything to say, not least because it was highly unusual

for Ron to be teaching anyone else tact.

"I—Hermione, I'm sorry — I didn't — "

"Didn't realize that Ron and I know perfectly well what might

happen if we come with you? Well, we do. Ron, show Harry what

you've done."

"Nah, he's just eaten," said Ron.

"Go on, he needs to know!"

"Oh, all right. Harry, come here."

For the second time Ron withdrew his arm from around Her-

mione and stumped over to the door.

"C'mon."

"Why?" Harry asked, following Ron out of the room onto the

97Chapter 6

tiny landing.

"Descendo," muttered Ron, pointing his wand at the low ceiling.

A hatch opened right over their heads and a ladder slid down to

their feet. A horrible, half-sucking, half, moaning sound came out

of the square hole, along with an unpleasant smell like open drains.

"That's your ghoul, isn't it?" asked Harry, who had never actu-

ally met the creature that sometimes disrupted the nightly silence.

"Yeah, it is," said Ron, climbing the ladder. "Come and have

a look at him."

Harry followed Ron up the few short steps into the tiny attic

space. His head and shoulders were in the room before he caught

sight of the creature curled up a few feet from him, fast asleep in

the gloom with its large mouth wide open.

"But it . . . it looks . . . do ghouls normally wear pajamas?"

"No," said Ron. "Nor have they usually got red hair or that

number of pustules."

Harry contemplated the thing, slightly revolted. It was human

in shape and size, and was wearing what, now that Harry's eyes

became used to the darkness, was clearly an old pair of Ron's

pajamas. He was also sure that ghouls were generally rather slimy

and bald, rather than distinctly hairy and covered in angry purple

blisters.

"He's me, see?" said Ron.

"No," said Harry. "I don't."

"I'll explain it back in my room, the smell's getting to me," said

Ron. They climbed back down the ladder, which Ron returned to

the ceiling, and rejoined Hermione, who was still sorting books.

"Once we've left, the ghoul's going to come and live down here

98The Ghoul in Pajamas

in my room," said Ron. "I think he's really looking forward to it —

well, it's hard to tell, because all he can do is moan and drool — but

he nods a lot when you mention it. Anyway, he's going to be me

with spattergroit. Good, eh?"

Harry merely looked his confusion.

"It is!" said Ron, clearly frustrated that Harry had not grasped

the brilliance of the plan. "Look, when we three don't turn up at

Hogwarts again, everyone's going to think Hermione and I must be

with you, right? Which means the Death Eaters will go straight

for our families to see if they've got information on where you are."

"But hopefully it'll look like I've gone away with Mum and Dad;

a lot of Muggle — borns are talking about going into hiding at the

moment," said Hermione.

"We can't hide my whole family, it'll look too fishy and they

can't all leave their jobs," said Ron. "So we're going to put out the

story that I'm seriously ill with spattergroit, which is why I can't

go back to school. If anyone comes calling to investigate, Mum

or dad can show then the ghoul in my bed, covered in pustules.

Spattergroit's really contagious, so they're not going to want to

go near him. It won't matter that he can't say anything, either,

because apparently you can't once the fungus has spread to your

uvula."

"And your mum and dad are in on this plan?" asked Harry.

"Dad is.

He helped Fred and George transform the ghoul.

Mum . . . well, you've seen what she's like. She won't accept we're

going till we've gone."

There was silence in the room, broken only by gentle thuds

as Hermione continued to throw books into one pile or the other.

99Chapter 6

Ron sat watching her, and Harry looked from one to the other.

The measures they had taken to protect their families made him

realize, more than anything else could have done, that they really

were going to come with him and that they knew exactly how dan-

gerous that would be. He wanted to tell them what that meant to

him, but he simply could not find words important enough.

Through the silence came the mu✏ed sounds of Mrs. Weasley

shouting from four floors below.

"Ginny's probably left a speck of dust on a poxy napkin ring,"

said Ron. "I dunno why the Delacours have got to come two days

before the weddings."

"Fleur's sister's a bridesmaid, she needs to be here for the re-

hearsal, and she's too young to come on her own," said Hermione,

as she pored indecisively over Break with a Banshee.

"Well, guests aren't going to help Mum's stress levels," said

Ron.

"What we really need to decide," said Hermione, tossing De-

fensive Magical Theory into the bin without a second glance and

picking up An Appraisal of Magical Education in Europe, "is where

we're going after we leave here.

I know you said you wanted

to go to Godric's Hollow first, Harry, and I understand why,

but . . . well . . . shouldn't we make the Horcruxes our priority?"

"If we knew where any of the Horcruxes were, I'd agree with

you," said Harry, who did not believe that Hermione really under-

stood his desire to Godric's Hollow. His parents graves were only

part of the attraction: He had a strong, though inexplicable, feeling

that the place held answers for him. Perhaps it was simply because

it was there that he had survived Voldemort's Killing Curse; now

100The Ghoul in Pajamas

that he was facing the challenge of repeating the feat, Harry was

drawn to the place where it happened, wanting to understand.

"Don't you think there's a possibility that Voldemort's keeping

a watch on Godric's Hollow?" Hermione asked. "He might expect

you to go back and visit your parents' graves once you're free to

go wherever you like?"

This had not occurred to Harry. While he struggled to find a

counterargument, Ron spoke up, evidently following his own train

of thought.

"This R.A.B. person," he said, "You know, the one who stole

the real locket?"

Hermione nodded.

"He said in his note that he was going to destroy it, didn't he?"

Harry dragged his rucksack toward him and pulled out the fake

Horcrux in which R.A.B.'s note was still folded.

"'I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon

as I can,' " Harry read out.

"Well, what if he did finish it o↵?" said Ron.

"Or she." interposed Hermione.

"Whichever," said Ron, "it'd be one less for us to do!"

"Yes, but we're still going to have to try and trace the real

locket, aren't we?" said Hermione, "to find out whether or not it's

destroyed."

"And once we get hold of it, how do you destroy a Horcrux?"

asked Ron.

"Well," said Hermione, "I've been researching that."

"How?" asked Harry. "I didn't think there were any books on

Horcruxes in the library?"

101Chapter 6

"There weren't," said Hermione, who had turned pink. "Dum-

bledore removed them all, but he — he didn't destroy them."

Ron sat up straight, wide-eyed.

"It—it wasn't stealing!" said Hermione, looking from Harry to

Ron with a kind of desperation. "They were still library books,

even if Dumbledore had taken them o↵ the shelves. Anyway, if he

really didn't want anyone to get at them, I'm sure he would have

made it much harder to — "

"Get to the point!" said Ron.

"Well . . . it was easy," said Hermione in a small voice.

"I

just did a Summoning Charm. You know — Accio. And . . . they

zoomed out of Dumbledore's study window right into the girls'

dormitory."

"But when did you do this?" Harry asked, regarding Hermione

with a mixture of admiration and incredulity.

"Just after his — Dumbledore's — funeral," said Hermione in an

even smaller voice. "Right after we agreed we'd leave school and

go and look for the Horcruxes. When I went back upstairs to get

my things it—it just occurred to me that the more we knew about

them, the better it would be . . . and I was alone in there . . . so I

tried . . . and it worked. They flew straight in through the open

window and I— I packed them."

She swallowed and then said imploringly, "I can't believe Dum-

bledore would have been angry, it's not as though we're going to

use the information to make a Horcrux, is it?"

"Can you hear us complaining?" said Ron. "Where are these

books anyway?"

Hermione rummaged for a moment and then extracted from

102The Ghoul in Pajamas

the pile a large volume, bound in faded black leather. She looked

a little nauseated and held it as gingerly as if it were something

recently dead.

"This is the one that gives explicit instructions on how to make

a Horcrux. Secrets of the Darkest Art — it's a horrible book, really

awful, full of evil magic. I wonder when Dumbledore removed it

from the library. . . . If he didn't do it until he was headmaster, I

bet Voldemort got all the instruction he needed from here."

"Why did he have to ask Slughorn how to make a Horcrux,

then, if he'd already read that?" asked Ron.

"He only approached Slughorn to find out what would happen

if you split your soul into seven," said Harry. "Dumbledore was

sure Riddle already knew how to make a Horcrux but the time he

asked Slughorn about them. I think you're right, Hermione, that

could easily have been where he got the information."

"And the more I've read about them," said Hermione, "the

more horrible they seem, and the less I can believe that he actually

made six. It warns in this book how unstable you make the rest of

your soul by ripping it, and that's just by making one Horcrux!"

Harry remembered what Dumbledore had said about Voldemort

moving beyond "usual evil."

"Isn't there any way of putting yourself back together?" Ron

asked.

"Yes," said Hermione with a hollow smile, "but it would be

excruciatingly painful."

"Why? How do you do it?" asked Harry.

"Remorse," said Hermione. "You've got to really feel what

you've done. There's a footnote. Apparently the pain of it can

103Chapter 6

destroy you. I can't see Voldemort attempting it somehow, can

you?"

"No," said Ron, before Harry could answer. "So does it say

how to destroy Horcruxes in that book?"

"Yes," said Hermione, now turning the fragile pages as if exam-

ining rotting entrails. "because it warns Dark wizards how strong

they have to make the enchantments on them. From all that I've

read, what Harry did to Riddle's diary was one of the really fool-

proof ways of destroying a Horcrux."

"What, stabbing it with a basilisk fang?" asked Harry.

"Oh well, lucky we've got such a large supply of basilisk fangs,

then," said Ron. "I was wondering what we were going to do with

them."

"It doesn't have to be a basilisk fang," said Hermione patiently.

"It has to be something so destructive that the Horcrux can't repair

itself. Basilisk venom only has one antidote, and it's incredibly

rare —"

"—phoenix tears," said Harry, nodding.

"Exactly," said Hermione, "Our problem is that the are very

few substances as destructive as basilisk venom, and they're all

dangerous to carry around with you. That's a problem we're going

to have to solve though, because ripping, smashing, or crushing a

Horcrux won't do the trick. You've got to put it beyond magical

repair."

"But even if we wreck the thing it lives in," said Ron, "Why

can't the bit of soul in it just go and live in something else?"

"Because a Horcrux is the complete opposite of a human being."

Seeing that Harry and Ron looked thoroughly confused, Her-

104The Ghoul in Pajamas

mione hurried on, "Look, if I picked up a sword right now, Ron,

and ran you through with it, I wouldn't damage your soul at all."

"Which would be a real comfort to me, I'm sure," said Ron.

Harry laughed.

"It should be, actually! But my point is that whatever happens

to your body, your soul will survive untouched," said Hermione.

"But it's the other way round with a Horcrux. The fragment of

soul inside it depends on its container, its enchanted body, for

survival, It can't exist without it."

"That diary sort of died when I stabbed it," said Harry, remem-

bering ink pouring like blood from the punctured pages, and the

screams of the piece of Voldemort's soul as it vanished.

"And once the diary was properly destroyed, the bit of soul

trapped in it could no longer exist. Ginny tried to get rid of the

diary before you did, flushing it away, but obviously it came back

good as new."

"Hang on," said Ron, frowning. "The bit of soul in that diary

was possessing Ginny, wasn't it? How does that work, then?"

"While the magical container is still intact, the bit of soul in-

side it can flit in and out of someone if they get too close to the

object. I don't mean holding it for long, it's nothing to do with

touching it," she added before Ron could speak. "I mean close

emotionally. Ginny poured her heart out into that diary, she made

herself incredibly vulnerable. You're in trouble if you get too fond

of or dependent on the Horcrux."

"I wonder how Dumbledore destroyed the ring?" said Harry.

"Why didn't I ask him? I never really . . . "

His voice tailed away: He was thinking of all the things he

105Chapter 6

should have asked Dumbledore, and of how, since the headmaster

had died, it seemed to Harry that he had wasted so many oppor-

tunities when Dumbledore had been alive, to find out more . . . to

find out everything. . . .

The silence was shattered as the bedroom door flew open with a

wall-shaking crash. Hermione shrieked and dropped Secrets of the

Darkest Art. Crookshanks streaked under the bed, hissing indig-

nantly; Ron jumped o↵ the bed, skidded on a discarded Chocolate

Frog wrapper, and smacked his head on the opposite wall; and

Harry instinctively dived for his wand before realizing that he was

looking up at Mrs. Weasley, whose hair was disheveled and whose

face was contorted with rage.

"I'm so sorry to break up this cozy little gathering," she said,

her voice trembling. "I'm sure you all need your rest . . . but there

are wedding presents stacked in my room that need sorting out and

I was under the impression that you had agreed to help."

"Oh yes," said Hermione, looking terrified as she leapt on her

feet, sending books flying in every direction, "we will . . . we're

sorry . . . "

With an anguished look at Harry and Ron, Hermione, hurried

out of the room after Mrs. Weasley.

"It's like being a house-elf," complained Ron in an undertone,

still massaging his head as he and Harry followed. "Except without

the job satisfaction. The sooner this wedding's over, the happier

I'll be."

"Yeah," said Harry, "then we'll have nothing to do except find

Horcruxes. . . . It'll be like a holiday, won't it?"

Ron started to laugh, but at the sight of the enormous pile

106The Ghoul in Pajamas

of wedding presents waiting for them in Mrs. Weasley's room,

stopped quite abruptly.

The Delacours arrived the following morning at eleven o'clock.

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were feeling quite resentful to-

ward Fleur's family by this time, and it was with ill grace that

Ron stumped back upstairs to put on matching socks, and Harry

attempted to flatten his hair. Once they had all been deemed

smart enough, they trooped out into the sunny backyard to await

the visitors.

Harry had never seen the place looking so tidy. The rusty caul-

drons and old Wellington boots that usually littered the steps by

the back door were gone, replaced by two new Flutterby bushes

standing either side of the door in large pots, though there was no

breeze, the leaves waved lazily, giving an attractive rippling e↵ect.

The chickens had been shut away, the yard had been swept, and the

nearby garden had been pruned, plucked, and generally spruced up,

although Harry, who liked it in its overgrown state, thought that

it looked rather forlorn without its usually contingent of capering

gnomes.

He had lost track of how many security enhancements had been

placed upon the Burrow by both the Order and the Ministry; all

he knew was that it was no longer possible for anybody to travel

by magic directly into the place. Mr. Weasley had therefore gone

to meet the Delacours on top of a nearby hill, where they were

to arrive by Portkey. The first sound of their approach was an

unusually high-pitched laugh, which turned out to be coming from

Mr. Weasley, who appeared at the gate moments later, laden with

luggage and leading a beautiful blonde woman in long, leaf-green

107Chapter 6

robes, who could only be Fleur's mother.

"Maman!"

cried Fleur, rushing forward to embrace her.

"Papa!"

Monsieur Delacour was nowhere near as attractive as his wife;

he was a head shorter and extremely plump, with a little, pointed

black beard. However, he looked good-natured. Bouncing toward

Mrs. Weasley on high-heeled boots, he kissed her twice on each

cheek, leaving her flustered.

"You 'ave been to much trouble," he said in a deep voice. "Fleur

tells us you 'ave been working very 'ard."

"Oh, it's been nothing, nothing" trilled Mrs. Weasley. "No

trouble at all."

**Ron relieved his feelings by aiming a kick at a gnome who was **

**peering out from behind one of the new Flutterby bushes. **

"**Dear lady!" **

**said Monsieur Delacour, still holding Mrs. **

**Weasley's hand between his two plump ones and beaming. "We **

**are most honored at the approaching union of our two families! Let **

**me present my wife, Apolline." **

**Madame Delacour glided forward and stooped to kiss Mrs. **

**Weasley too. "Enchant ́ **

**ee," she said. "Your 'usband 'as been telling **

**us such amusing stories!" **

**Mr. Weasley gave a maniacal laugh; Mrs. Weasley threw him **

**a look, upon which he became immediately silent and assumed an **

**expression appropriate to the sickbed of a close friend. **

"**And, of course, you 'ave met my leetle daughter, Gabrielle!" **

**said Monsieur Delacour. Gabrielle was Fleur in miniature; eleven **

**years old, with waist — length hair of pure, silvery blonde, she gave **

**Mrs. Weasley a dazzling smile and hugged her, then threw Harry **

**108The Ghoul in Pajamas **

**a glowing look, batting her eyelashes. Ginny cleared her throat **

**loudly. **

"**Well, come in, do!" said Mrs. Weasley brightly, and she ush- **

**ered the Delacours into the house, with many "No, please!"s and **

"**After you!"s and "Not at all!"s. **

**The Delacours, as it soon transpired, were helpful, pleasant **

**guests. They were pleased with everything and keen to assist with **

**the preparations for the wedding. Monsieur Delacour pronounced **

**everything from the seating plan to the bridesmaids' shows "Char- **

**mant! " Madame Delacour was most accomplished at household **

**spells and had the oven properly cleaned in a trice; Gabrielle fol- **

**lowed her elder sister around, trying to assist in any way she could **

**and jabbering away in rapid French. **

**On the downside, the Burrow was not built to accommodate so **

**many people. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were now sleeping in the sit- **

**ting room, having shouted down Monsieur and Madame Delacour's **

**protests and insisted they take their bedroom. Gabrielle was sleep- **

**ing with Fleur in Percy's old room, and Bill would be sharing with **

**Charlie, his best man, once Charlie arrived from Romania. Op- **

**portunities to make plans together became virtually nonexistent, **

**and it was in desperation that Harry, Ron, and Hermione took to **

**volunteering to feed the chickens just to escape the overcrowded **

**house. **

"**But she still won't leave us alone!" snarled Ron, as their sec- **

**ond attempt at a meeting in the yard was foiled by the appearance **

**of Mrs. Weasley carrying a large basket of laundry in her arms. **

"**Oh, good, you've fed the chickens," she called as she ap- **

**proached them. "We'd better shut them away again before the **

**men arrive tomorrow . . . to put up the tent for the wedding," **

**she explained, pausing to lean against the henhouse. She looked **

**exhausted. "Millamant's Magic Marquees . . . they're very good. **

**Bill's escorting them. . . . You'd better stay inside while they're here, **

**Harry. I must say it does complicate organizing a wedding, having **

**all these security spells around the place." **

"**I'm sorry," said Harry humbly. **

"**Oh, don't be silly, dear!" said Mrs. Weasley at once. "I didn't **

**mean—well, your safety's much more important! Actually, I've **

**been wanting to ask you how you want to celebrate your birthday, **

**Harry. Seventeen, after all, it's an important day. . . ." **

"**I don't want a fuss," said Harry quickly, envisaging the ad- **

**dition strain this would put on them all. "Really, Mrs. Weasley, **

**just a normal dinner would be fine. . . . It's the day before the wed- **

**ding. . . ." **

"**Oh, well, if you're sure, dear. I'll invite Remus and Tonks, **

**shall I? And how about Hagrid?" **

"**That'd be great," said Harry. "But please don't go to loads of **

**trouble." **

"**Not at all, not at all . . . It's no trouble. . . ." She looked at **

**him, a long, searching look, then smiled a little sadly, straightened **

**up, and walked away. Harry watched as she waved her wand near **

**the washing line, and the damp clothes rose into the air to hang **

**themselves up, and suddenly he felt a great wave of remorse for **

**the inconvenience and the pain he was giving her.**


	6. Authors Note IMPORTANT!

Guys I received several reviews informing me that I need to change the my story so that I wasn't invading any copyright laws. Therefore I have been working to change the bolded text into something of my own that still follows the story line.

To anyone who is reading this and feels the need to report it; I know your only trying to keep FanFiction up and running but iv heard you opinions and I am doing my best to re-wright this story so that there will be no problems.

Please be patient guys, it harder than it might seem!

I am currently re-writing the second chapter and am about half way done.

Sense I have decided to completely re-write the bolded text I would like you to know that there will be some things that are different, not just the words, such as; I would like to make the story light. I know that it was created as something for all ages but I really love dark stories so it's not like I'm going to be writing horror, I just want it to be a bit more intriguing.

Those of you who have already read this story I recommend re-reading because I will be changing around not just the bolded text but some of my own personal story line as well. I will be taking out the part where Harry casts a Patronus because there is something I want to do later that involves his Patronus being different.

I know that in the books the connection and likeness between Harry and Voldemort wasn't stressed. I'm going to make it more profound and a bit more in depth. I want Harry to see even more into Voldemort's life and I want him to be even more like him now. I'm not sure if I'm going to make it so he's always been like that or if I'm going to write it so that when Voldemort destroyed the Horcrux within Harry it leaked someone of his evil into Harry. Like I said; not sure yet.

I'm going to make the Dursley's abuse of Harry a bit harsher, not much though, I don't want to make it super bad because I don't think it needs to be.

Im playing with the idea of Harry being an Animagus, I think I'm going to go with yes. Id like you all to know that the form of his Patronus and Animagus are the same ( I think they said in the original HP books that they have to be ) but remember that his Animagus, once I finish replacing and re-writing chapters, isn't a stag anymore.

Ant help or ideas is welcomed, actually I would prefer it!

I know my formatting of the bolded text is really annoying and choppy but that will be fixed as I re-write! Thanks for all the followers and advice!

XOXO,

Unending


	7. Review

Novembertopaz:

I know you are changing some things, and that you have quit writing this by now, but I felt the need to point out that you got a few things mixed up, like you used the definition of a horcrux to describe the deathly hallows, and I don't think they should blatantly lie about things like at the end there.

Unendings reply;

Hey. Sorry about the mix up, sometimes when I'm writing everything gets a little jumbled so thanks for the heads up! I am still writing this story but right now, as I've explained to a few other reviewers, I'm trying to re-do the copywriter infringement in the bolded text! When I get to the chapter that I messed up on I'll make sure to change it!

Sorry this message wasn't sent directly to you but I couldn't find your account!

To everybody else who's reading this if there's any advice, typo's, or general questions/comments I do my best to reply to all! If there's a review I didn't get to just PM me and I can answer more questions!


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